UC-NRLF 


It.    Mfil 


LYMAN  C.  DRAPER 


V 


'O 


Sketch  of  Lyman  C,  Draper,  L,L,  D,, 

The  Educator  and  Historian. 


From  the  National  Educator,  May,  188  >. 


The  editor  is  going  to  talk  to  his  "girls  and 
boys"  very  familiarly ,  and  all  about  how  to  get 
on  in  the  world  under  the  most  adverse  circum 
stances;  ancl  to  do  so  we  must  have  a  subject, 
a  live  subject  at  that,  and  one  too  that  they 
have  not  read  much  about,  but  will  say  that  the 
boy  that  he  will  so  familiarly  talk  about  was  in 
experiences  just  about  what  the  average  village 
or  farmer  boy  has  had;  he  was  as  a  boy  of  the 
period  required  to  do  his  share  of  the  family 
labor,  then  when  there  was  not  much  to  do  at 
home  he  did  occasional  jobs  for  the  neighbors. 
One  season  he  carried  the  hod,  getting  twelve 
and  a  half  cents  a  day,  called  then  a  York  shil 
ling.  In  the  season  of  fruit  gathering  he  picked 
berries,  carried  them  to  the  village  and  sold 
them;  in  the  winter  mended  shoes  and  boots  for 
the  family.  So  you  see  he  was  hand}-.  Then 
as  he  grew  older  he  clerked  in  the  village  gro 
cery  and  dry  goods  store.  At  times,  when  he 
could  be  spared,  he  attended  the  village  school, 
filling  in  the  odd  leisure  time  by  reading  any 
books  he  could  borrow,  or  when  his  scant  earn 
ings  would  permit  would  buy  a  book.  B}r  this 
close  application  to  study  in  his  spare  moments 
he  soon  gained  the  reputation  of  a  bo}r  of  stu 
dious  habits,  a  youth  of  letters. 

Right  here  the  editor  may  as  well  tell  the 
name  of  this  boy;  Lyman  C.  Draper,  born  Sept. 
4.  1815;  and  the  boy  we  are  writing  this  truth 
ful  history  about,  had  such  a  desire  for  knowing 
all  about  the  history  of  his  country,  that  at  the 
age  of  ten,  twelve  and  up  to  fifteen  he  already 
had  acquired  a  general  knowledge  of  the  his 
tory  of  the  country.  He  knew  all  about  the 
Indian  Wars,  the  war  for  independence,  the  war 
of  1812-14. 

He  never,  boy  as  he  was,  neglected  an  oppor 
tunity  of  talking  with  old  pioneers  and  old 
soldiers.  He  met  Gen.  LaFayette  when  that 
great  friend  of  America  visited  this  country  in 
1825.  Lyman  was  then  only  ten  years  old  and 
then  had"  a  passion  for  learning  all  about  the 
great  men.  He  met  Gen.  Cass,  Gov.  Clinton, 
and  other  big  men  of  that  day.  He  wrote 
sketches  of  them  for  the  newspapers,  LaFayette 
being  the  subject  of  his  first  composition,  and 
also  about  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  He  met  many  Indians  and  from 
their  chiefs  was  always  asking  questions  in  re 
gard  to  the  \vars  they  had  been  engaged  in. 

The  years  passed  on,  and  he  was  every  day 
adding  to  his  stock  of  knowledge;  and  when  he 
was  18  years  old  he  traveled  from  western  New 
York  to  Mobile,  and  while  there  collecting  in 


formation  from  ever}' reliable  source,  particular- 
ly  of  the  southern  Indians  who  at  that  time 
/till  occupied  parts  of  Georgia,  Alabama  and 
other  southern  states. 

On  his  return  the  next  \rear,  he  camero.und  bv 
•way  of  New  Orleans,  then  up  the  Mississippi 
and  Ohio  rivers  by  steamboat,  then  across  the 
country  to  Granville,  Ohio,  where  he  entered 
college,  staying  over  two  years,  distinguishing 
himself  b\-  the  rapid  progress  he  made  in  his 
studies.  He  made  the  best  use  of  his  time,  and 
soon  acquired  an  excellent  library  for  those 
days.  In  the  winter  of  1835-36,  he  journeyed 
by  horseback  to  Columbus,  through  thick 
woods  and  rough  roads.  The  season  was 
stormy,  the  roads  almost  impassable,  the 
bridges  being  carried  away  by  the  floods.  On 
one  occasion  he  and  his  horse  were  carried  down 
stream,  and  he  narrowly  escaped  drowning. 
But  he  made  the  journey  safely,  accomplished 
the  object  he  went  for,  and  returned,  and  then 
journeyed  east  and  entered  a  seminary  at  Stock- 
port,  New  York,  and  was  a  close  student  for 
over  one  year.  Completing  his  course,  he  took 
an  extended  course  of  private  reading — his 
books  the  early  histories  of  the  border. 

He  became  so  much  interested  that  he  con 
ceived  the  idea  of  writing  a  history  of  the  west 
ern  border  life,  and  this  became  his  controlling 
thought,  and  he  entered  upon  it  with  an  en 
thusiasm  that  has  never  faltered.  He  wrote 
many  letters  to  prominent  pioneers  all  along 
the  line. 

In  1840  he  commenced  to  travel  and  visit  the 
old  pioneers  and  revolutionary  soldiers  in  their 
homes,  thus  consuming  much  time,  but  secur 
ing  information  from  the  actors,  as  many  of 
these  old  patriots  could  tell  their  story  to  an 
interested  listener  better  than  they  could  write 
it. 

Bo3's,  there  were  no  railroads  then,  so  our 
young  Lyman  the  collector  of  historical  facts 
traveled  for  many  years  far  and  wide  on  foot, 
horseback,  by  stage,  lumber  wagon,  and  steam 
boat,  his  receptacle  for  his  note  books  being  a 
knapsack.  These  journeys  led  him  through 
thick  woods  and  long  distances  through  wilder 
ness  country.  He  traveled  over  sixty  thousand 
miles  meeting  with  hundreds  of  curions  inci 
dents,  some  accidents,  many  hairbreadth  es 
capes  by  runaway  horses,  great  storms,  swol 
len  streams,  turned  over  stages,  snagged  and 
grounded  steamboats,  suffering  from  hunger, 
not  allowing  any  of  these  to  hinder  the  mission 
he  had  in  view. 


SKETCH    OF    I.YMAN    C.    DRAPER,    LL.    D. 


Many  of  the  people  he  sought  were  far  re 
moved  from  the  common  UMIV.  rvnces  of  life, 
but  a  hearty  pioneer  hospitality  was  extended 
to  the  pilgrim  explorer,  after  his  arrival  the 
stranger  was  welcomed  to  the  shelter  of  the 
frontier  settler's  household.  He  spent  weeks 
together  in  these  crude  homes  in  New  York, 
Ohio,  Kentuck3',  Virginia  and  Tennessee  back 
woods,  gaining  historical  information,  valuable 
reminisences  from  the  old  settler,  from  his  rec 
ollections  or  from  family  records,  that  would 
add  knowledge  in  regard  .to  the  settlement  in 
early  days  and  the  adventures  and  privation 
attending  them.  To  give  .••.  list  of  people  visit 
ed,  would  take  columns  of  the  EDUCATOR,  as 
these  searches  after  knowledge  covered  in  time 
a  space  of  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  in  which 
he  interviewed  the  actors  in  the  stirring  scenes 
of  the  past  who  still  survived.  Among  these 
were  Major  Bland  Ballard  a  noted  Indian 
fighter  in  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark's  campaigns 
against  the  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  Indians. 
Another  one  was  Major  George  M.  Bedinger,  a 
noted  pioneer  and  Indian  fighter  of  Kentucy; 
Gen.  Whiteman  of  Ohio  and  Capt.  James  Ward 
of  Kentucky,  who  had  fought  Indians  -with 
Kenton,and  Gen.  William  Hall  who  had  been  a 
great  Indian  fighter  under  Gen.  Jackson  in  the 
Creek  War.  He  visited  many  of  the  old  cam 
paigners  who  had  served  with  Gen.  Clark  in  all 
his  Indian  expeditions,  the  old  associates  and 
their  children  who  had  been  with  Boone,  Ken- 
ton,  Sumter,  Sevier.  Robertson,  Pickens,  Craw 
ford,  Shelby,  Brady, Cleveland  and  the  Wetzels, 
and  from  these  he  gathered  particulars  in  re 
gard  to  the  career  of  all  these  great  fighters  of 
the  Revolution,  the  Indian  wars  and  the  war  of 
1812-14.  He  also  visited  among  the  aged  sur 
vivors  of  the  Indian  tribes  —  the  Senecas,  Onei- 
das,  Tuscaroras,  Mohawks,  Chicasaws,  Ca- 
tawbas,  Wyandots,  Shawanese,  Delawares  and 
Pottawattomies.  Among  these  he  found  the 
old  chief  Blacksnake,  one  of  the  Seneca  war 
captains  at  Wyoming  with  Brant,  and  the  old 
chief  Walker  of  the  Wyandots.  He  also  visited 
among  the  Canada  Mohawks,  who  gave  him 
an  Indian  name.  In  his  southern  trips  he  visit 
ed  Gen.  Jackson  at  his  home  in  Tennessee,  and 
had  a  long  talk  with  him  about  his  Indian 
wars  and  the  battle  of  New  Orleans;  and  com 
ing  up  through  Kentucky  called  on  Col.  R.  M. 
Johnson,  the  reputed  Tecumseh  slayer  at  the 
battle  of  the  Thames,  and  who  was  vice-presi 
dent  under  VanBuren.  He  met  Henr}-  Cla}rand 
saw  Gen.  Harrison  in  Ohio. 

These  distinguished  men  and  those  in  more 
humbler  station  he  continued  to  interview  and 
correspond  with  for  near  forty  years,  gathering 
authentic  material  for  history.  In  later  years, 
his  activity  has  known  no  limit  and  he  has 
gathered  a  rich  harvest  of  collections.  And 
now  just  think  of  it,  boys,  there  are  on  the 
shelves  of  his  library  over  two  hundred  and 
fifty  volumes  of  manuscript,  the  greater  part 
made  up  from  wholly  original  matter  covering 
the  entire  history  of  the  wars  from  1742,  the 
date  of  the  first  skirmish  with  the  redskins  in 
the  valley  of  Virginia,  to  1813-14,  when  Te 
cumseh  was  killed  and  the  Creeks  were  defeated. 


Among  these  are  the  original  manuscript  nar 
rative  of  Gen.  George  R.  Clark's  expedition  to 
Vincennes,  Kaskaskia  and  other  points  in  Indi 
ana  and  Illinois,  to  chastise  the  hostile  Indians. 
The  earliest  original  diary  in  his  possesion, 
is  one  kept  by  Captain  Wm.  Preston,  relat 
ing  to  the  Sandy  Creek  expedition  in  West 
Virginia,  against  the  Indians,  in  1756,  and  an 
other  by  Col.  Wm.  Fleming  of  an  early  trip  to 
Kentucky,  and  numerons  others.  Then  come 
original  manuscripts  relating  to  St.  Clair's  and 
Wayne's  campaigns  from  1790  to  1795.  To 
obtain  all  these  vast  stores  of  historical  data, 
it  required  the  arduous  labors  here  enumerated 
to  our  class. 

Mr.  Draper's  labors  in  other  fields  of  literary 
effort,  we  have  not  the  space  K>  give  in  thi«  talk. 
He  edited  newspapers,  lived  out  \n  the  woods 
in  a  floorless,  \vindowlesshut,a  dozen  miles  out 
in  the  wilderness  from  "anywhere,"  trying  to 
"clear  up  a  new  farm,"  most  of  his  food  being 
sweet  potatoes. 

In  1842  he  left  his  "clearing"  to  take  a  clerk 
ship  on  the  Erie  Canal.  But  he  did  not  stay 
long,  but  the  next  year  he  went  back  south 
again  and  added  more  to  his  manuscripts  from 
his  intercourse  with  Mississippi  pioneers,  stay 
ing  there  only  one  year.  He  returned  east  stop 
ping  with  a  friend,  then  living  near  Baltimore, 
and  this  friend  with  his  family  moving  to  Phil 
adelphia,  where  he  accompanied  them,  still  pur 
suing  his  labors  for  historical  data. 

From  Philadelphia  he  moved  in  1852  to  Mad 
ison,  Wis.,  being  invited  to  assist  in  the  man 
agement  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wis 
consin,  and  the  following  year  he  was  selected 
as  one  of  the  executive  committee,  and  1854  he 
was  elected  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  under 
his  care  the  Society  has  progressed  at  a  marvel 
ous  pace  ever  since. 

In  the  thirty-three  years  that  he  held  that  po 
sition,  the  society's  library  increased  to  over 
one  hundred  thousand  volumes,  besides  such 
stores  of  manuscript,  a  splendid  museum  and 
art  gallery,  that  attracts  many  thousands  of  vis 
itors  every  year  from  every  section  of  the  union. 

The  circle  of  Mr.  Draper's  usefulness  was  en 
larging  all  the  time,  and  in  1858,  he  served  as 
State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  hav 
ing  in  charge  the  educational  interests  of  Wis 
consin.  In  this  enlarged  sphere  of  usefulness  he 
was  quite  as  efficient  as  he  had  proved  himself 
collecting  historical  memoranda. 

The  educational  system  of  Wisconsin  was  at 
that  early  day  but  poorly  organized,  but  he, 
by  dint  of  perseverance  and  by  his  administra 
tive  ability,  added  new  life  to  the  educational 
system,  that  was  felt  in  the  schools  of  every 
part  of  the  state. 

Of  the  great  advances  made,  the  limits  of  this 
"talk"  to  the  class  will  permit  of  but  brief  men 
tion .  He  recomended  the  establishment  of  libra 
ries;  he  made  visits  to  other  state  surerintendents 
and  the  leading  educators  of  the  day — Horace 
Mann,  Presidents  Wayland  and  Sears  with  such 
Canadian  educators  as  Dr.  Egerton  Ryerson. 
He  made  a  carefnl  study  of  the  workings  of 
public  school  libraries,  with  the  good  results 
from  them,  and  used  all  the  valuable  informa- 


SKETCH  OF  LYMAN  C.  DRAPER,  LL.  D. 


tion  acquired  in  securing  needed  legislation  at 
the  session  of  1859,  by  which  one  tenth  of  the 
state  school  fund  income  was  set  apart  as  a 
township  librar\-  fund,  to  which  was  added  one- 
tenth  of  a  mill  tax  on  the  assessed  valuation  of 
the  property  of  the  state.  His  plan  was  to  es 
tablish  township  libraries,  place  them  under 
competent  management,  these  to  be  furnished 
with  books  by  the  State  Board.  During  the 
first  3rear  this  was  in  operation,  nearly  ninety 
thousand  dollars  were  raised. 

Supt.  Draper  won  golden  opinions  from  the 
leading  educators  of  the  land;   his  work  was , 
commended  by  Gov.  Randall,  br  legislative  ed- 1 
ucational  committees.  ;ns  si  3  :n   office 

emulated  his  zeal,  adopting  his  systematic  me 
thod  of  keeping  tt,e  records  in  all  the  details  oi' 
the  management  of  his  department. 

He  also  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Regents  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  and  the 
State  Normal  Schoo's.  In  these  positions  he 
was  very  efficient  in  promoting  the  interests  of 
these  institutions,  devoting  his  energies  to 
founding  a  library  for  the  University.  He  be 
lieved  "the  true  university  of  these  days  is  a 
collection  of  books."  This  service,  with  his  life 
labor  in  promoting  the  cause  of  historical  liter 
ature,  was  formalh-  recognized  by  the  Universi 
ty  by  conferring  upon  him  the  title  of  LL.  D. 

Dr.  Draper  served  only  one  term  in  the  State 
Superintendence',  and  the  year  of  1860  found 
him  back  at  his  work  in  "behalf  of  the  State 
Historical  Society,  and  in  its  prosecution  he 
brought  the  industry  of  an  enthusiast,  conduct 
ing  the  Society's  business  with  energy,  presis- 
tence  and  business  tact  of  high  order.  The  ad 
ditions  to  the  great  library  and  museum  were 
made  by  his  selection,  and  to  this  task  he 
brought  great  historical  knowledge.  Part  of 
his  duties  was  to  edit  and  publish  the  society's 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  ten  octaVo 
volumes  of  some  five  hundred  pages  each  have 
been  published,  thus  completing  the  first  series, 
the  last  containing  a  general  index  to  the  whole. 

These  Collections  relate  to  the  history  of  the 
State,  all  gathered  by  Dr.  Draper  from  early 
pioneers  or  by  interviews  with  noted  men,  white 
or  Indian.  In  the  gathering  of  these  materials 
in  regard  to  the  early  history  of  Wisconsin,  he 
has  traveled  thousands  of  miles,  written  many 
letters,  and  interviewed  hundreds  of  persons. 

So  completely  has  the  work  been  done,  that  is 
embodied  in  these  Collections,  covering  all  the 
old  territorial  history,  that  they  at  this  time 
are  the  accepted  authority  for  writers  upon  top 
ics  relating  to  Wisconsin's  early  history.  All  the 
great  historians  quote  from  him,  and  Bancroft, 
Sparks,  Parkman,  Shea,  Lossing,  have  compli 
mented  Dr.  Draper  for  the  excellence,  correctness 
and  great  importance  to  students  of  American 
history  of  these  ten  volumes  of  "Collections," 
in  themselves  a  monument  to  him.  The  State 
Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  is  to-day  what 
he  has  made  it.  Its  near  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  volumes  cover  the  entire  range 
of  American  historical  investigation  —  strong 
in  the  departments  of  western  history,  works 
on  the  Indian  tribes,  their  wars — a  collection  of 
bound  newspaper  files,  extending  through  a 


period  of  over  two  centuries,  a  genealogical  de 
partment,  almost  equal  in  extent  to  the  His 
toric-Genealogical  Society  of  Boston. 

The  museum  contains  mam- thousand  objects 
of  interest— a  collection  of  pre-historic  copper 
and  stone  implements,  and  an  imposing  arrav 
of  oil  portraits  of  American  pioneers,  also  a  full 
set  of  the  autographs  of  the  fifty-six  signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  ledependence— fifty  of  them 
being  autograph  letters,  also  a  full  set  of  auto 
graph  letters  of  the  thirty-nine  signers  of  the 
constitution,  and  m  irly  complete  set  of  the 
presidents  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  the 
presidents  of  the  United  States. 

In  this  hasty  recital  to  the  "Girls  and  Boys" 
of  our  class,  the  editor  can  truly  say  "the  half 
has  not  ijcen  told" — no,  not  a  tithe  of  the  la 
bors  of  this  great  historian  and  scholar  can  be 
enumerated  here.  So  we  will  hasten  to  a  con 
clusion.  Of  his  published  works  one  book  was 
published  in  1869,  the  title,  "The  Helping  Hand, 
an  American  Home  Book  for  Town  and  Coun 
try,"  a  work  of  great  practical  utility.  But 
his  great  work — coming  exactly  in  the  range  of 
his  special  field  of  scholarship — is  "King's 
Mountain  and  its  Heroes,"  a  volume  of  over 
six  hundred  pages,  a  true  narrative  of  the  Whig, 
Tory  and  British  warefare  in  the  Carolinas  dur 
ing  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  The  book  was 
well  received,  and  Bancroft  writes  of  it  calling 
it  "a  magnificent  volume."  Parkman  says,  it 
"Is  truly  wonderful,  requiring  a  lifetime  of  care 
ful  re  search — a  copious  record  of  this  ver3T  inter 
esting  passage  of  our  history."  Geo.  W.  Childs 
says  of  it,  "A  delightful  book — enchains  the 
reader."  Gen.  Joe  E.  Johnson,  says,  "I  find  it 
the  most  interesting  American  historical  work 
I  have  ever  read."  Gen.  Sherman  says,  "The 
work  deserves  credit  for  accuracy  and  fullness." 
Hon.  Robt.  C.  Winthrop  writes,  "Interesting 
and  valuable,  exhibiting  great  research."  Gov. 
Seymour  says,  "It  is  a  valuable  contribution 
to  the  history  of  our  country."  Gov.  Perry 
writes,  "  I  am  amazed  at  the  extent  of  the  his 
torical  information  it  contains."  The  Literary 
World,  Boston,  "The  effort  is  a  master-piece." 
Prof.  Phillips  says,  "The  author  has  a  gift  for 
such  work,  and  may  be  styled  'The  lover  of 
Patriots.'"  Hon.  J.  M.  Lee,  Tennessee,  says, 
"The  book  will  live;  its  crowning  virtue  is,  it 
tells  the  truth,  doing  equal  justice  to  Whig  and 
Tory."  Such  are  a  few  sententious  extracts, 
approving  Dr.  Draper's  great  work. 

He  is  a  clear,  forcible  writer,  with  pure,  ele 
vated  st}4e,  a  conscientious  desire  to  do  exact 
justice  to  all  the  great  actors  who  have  moved 
on  the  stage  of  history.  He  considers  a  perver 
sion  of  truth  as  the  meanest  of  lies.  No  living 
man  is  so  equipped  to  write  the  history  of  the 
border  forays  of  the  Revolutionary  epoch,  and 
of  the  first  pioneer  settlements,  as  Dr.  Draper, 
and  a  great  body  of  students  of  American  his 
tory  are  \vaiting  his  forthcoming  works.  The 
"  Girls  and  Boys"  of  our  class,  whom  we  hope 
are  all  students  of  history,  will  be  glad  to  know 
by  the  following  letter  received  by  the  editor, 
that  the  wishes  of  historical  readers  are  soon 
to  be  gratified. 


SKETCH   OF   I.YMAN   C.    DRAPER,    LL.    D. 


MADISON,  April  12,  1887. 
Mr.  J.  BONHAM, 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  obliging  favor  of  9th 
inst.  calls  for  my  kind  acknowledgments  —  and 
for  the  number  of  the  EDUCATOR,  with  its 
friendly  notice.  At  my  age,  1  personally  have 
no  desire  for  newspaper  and  magazine  notor 
iety. 

If  notices  of  any  of  our  toilers,  in  any  pur 
suit,  can  be  used  as  exemplars  and  stimulants 
to  the  young,  it  is  very  proper  to  use  them. 

While  I  have  withdrawn  from  the  Historical 
Society  as  its  corresponding  secretary  and  edi 
tor  of  its  publications,  one  duty  has  lapped 
over  for  my  completion — the  tenth  volume  of 
our  Society's  Collections,  which  finishes  the 
first  series,  and  which  will  contain  a  full  index 
of  the  whole  ten  volumes.  I  am  at  work  on 
this,  and  hope  soon  to  see  it  through  the  press. 
Then  I  shall  "pitch  in"  to  my  own  personal 
work — probably  Boone  first;  then  Gen.  G.  R. 
Clark.  Boone  was  the  older  and  preceded 
Clark  in  his  advent  into  the  West. 

God  bless  you,  my  friend,  I  hope  and  pray 
you  may  long  be  spared  for  work  and  useful 
ness.  Faithfully  Yours, 

LYMAN  C.  DRAPER. 

So,  "  Boys  and  Girls,"  prepare  for  something 
that  is  histor3',  from  this  prince  of  American 
chroniclers. 

Bancroft  wrote  him  sometime  ago,  saying:  "I 
look  forward  with  eager  interest  for  your  lives 
of  Boone,  of  Clark,  of  James  Robertson,  and  so 
many  others.  Time  is  short — pray  do  not  de 
lay —  the  country  expects  of  you  this  service." 

Mr.  Bancroft  only  voices  the  desire  of  the 
public  for  the  early  appearance  of  these  vol 
umes. 

After  these  will  follow  others,  and  no  doubt 
large  orders  will  be  waiting  them  when  they 
issue  from  the  press. 

In  addition  to  lives  of  Boone,  Clark,  Robert 
son  and  others,  he  has  mapped  out  the  life  of 
Gen.  Simon  Kenton,  the  noted  "border  fighter" 
whose  stiring  career  was  filled  with  romatic 
adventure.  Then  came  Sumter,  the  hero  of 
South  Carolina  in  the  Revolution,  while  Brant 
and  Tecumseh  and  other  Indian  chiefs,  he  de 
sires  to  introduce  in  their  true  colors  to  the 
world  of  letters. 


The  great  Indian  fighters,  Brady  and  the 
Wetzel  brothers,  are  down  in  his  stores  of 
manuscripts  for  "a  showing  up."  A  work  on 
Dunmore's  Indian  war  of  1774  is  also  among 
those  he  has  blocked  out.  One  wrould  think 
these  were  enough,  but  he  has  more.  But  this 
splendid  series  of  histories,  illustrative  of  early 
times  on  the  border,  should  he  be  spared  for  the 
task,  will  rear  for  Dr.  Draper  a  lasting  literary 
monument. 

He  commenced  to  gather  this  matter  more  than 
a  half  century  ago.  The  actors  in  these  grand 
old  scenes  have  never  been  fairly  represented  in 
any  of  the  histories  written.  Dr.  Draper  alone, 
has  the  open  sesame,  atid  we  know  that  the 
wishes  of  our  class  and  all  other  readers  of  the 
EDUCATOR  will  go  out  to  him,  that  lotig  life  and 
good  health  may  be  vouchsafed  him  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  great  work  yet  remaining 
for  him  to  do,  is  certainly  the  ardent  wish  of 
every  lover  of  truthful  history.  Dr.  Draper  is 
up  in  the  seventies,  "full  of  years  and  honors." 
His  years  sit  lightly  on  his  shoulders,  and  he  is 
a  bundle  of  nervous  active,  light  and  rapid  of 
step,  he  is  still  as  active  as  many  youth.  He  is 
slight  of  stature,  his  features  firiety  cut,  his  face 
readiby  brightens  with  the  most  winning  smiles. 
A  great  part  of  his  time  has  been  passed  among 
his  books  and  manuscripts. 

He  is  a  most  amiable  old-young  gentleman  of 
"ye  olden  times,"  the  "latch-string"  of  his  lib 
rary  and  working  "den"  is  "always  out,"  to 
those  who  have  a  legitimate  errand  thither, 
and  when  found,  he  is  most  amiable  and 
charming,  and  sometimes  a  merry  conversa 
tionalist.  Few  are  so  well  informed  on  public 
men,  current  events  and  the  literature  of  the 
day.  He  is  a  man  of  generous  impulses,  is  the 
soul  of  honor.  He  has  been  a  tireless  brain 
worker — had  he  not  been,  he  could  not  have 
accomplished  what  he  has  for  the  world  of  let 
ters,  or  carved  out  for  himself  the  eminent  posi 
tion  as  a  historian  among  the  reading  people  of 
the  world.  We  are  glad  in  this  familiar  "talk" 
to  introduce  him  to  our  class.  The}r  will  be 
glad  to  hear  more  about  him  and  his  "  works, 
that  -will  follow  him"  in  the  future,  and  no 
doubt  many  will  further  cultivate  his  acquaint 
ance  after  this  introduction  by  reading  his 
works  as  they  shall  from  time  to  time  appear. 


OP  THE 


n 


AN    ESSAY 


AUTOGRAPHIC    COLLECTIONS 

OF    THE    SIGNERS 

OF    THE 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 

AND   OF   THE 

CONSTITUTION. 

FROM  VOL.  XTH,  WISCONSIN  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  COLLECTIONS. 


BY 

LYMAN   C.  DRAPER,  LL.D. 
i\ 


NEW    YORK: 

BURNS  &  SON,  PUBLISHERS, 

744  BROADWAY. 

1889. 


COPYRIGHT,  1889, 
BY  BURNS  &  SON. 


Press  of  J.  J.   Little  &  Co, 
Astor  Place,  New  York. 


PREFATORY. 


MANY  years'  experience  in  gathering,  in  behalf  of  the  State  Historical 
Society  of  Wisconsin,  a  set  each  of  the  autographs  of  the  Signers  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  of  the  Constitution,  led  me  to 
realize  the  patience  and  perseverance  necessary  in  making  such  collec 
tions,  and  strongly  to  impress  me  with  their  value  in  illustrating  our 
Revolutionary  and  Constitutional  history. 

In  making  a  report  of  these  collections  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical 
Society,  it  seemed  most  appropriate  to  introduce  the  subject  with  some 
account  of  the  slow  but  steady  growth  in  this  country,  of  this  beautiful 
and  inspiring  employment ;  and  to  note,  moreover,  other  collections 
extant,  complete  and  incomplete,  exhibiting  the  great  labor  of  bring 
ing  them  together,  and  instituting,  to  some  extent,  a  just  comparison 
of  their  relative  strength,  historic  importance,  and  intrinsic  value. 

The  gathering  of  matter  for  this  monograph  was  commenced  in  1883, 
not  then  realizing  the  difficulties  attendant  upon  the  undertaking  ;  but 
time,  perseverance,  and  patience  have  resulted  in  this  little  contribu 
tion  to  the  autographic  literature  of  the  country.  For  whatever  of 
value  or  interest  it  may  contain,  the  credit  is  largely  due  to  the 
several  persons  mentioned  in  this  essay,  whose  suggestions  and  informa 
tion  have  been  freely  and  generously  contributed  in  furtherance  of  a 
fair  and  just  attempt  to  portray  the  growth  and  extent  of  this  interest 
ing  branch  of  American  literature. 

In  examining  any  array  of  autographs  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  one  cannot  but  feel  in  his  heart  a  kindling  of  patriotism,  and 
cherish  a  sense  of  sympathy,  as  though  he  lived  and  shared  with  those 
noble  patriots  in  their  trials  and  sufferings,  hopes  and  fears,  and  in  the 
ultimate  triumph  that  joyfully  crowned  their  long  and  weary  labors  in 
the  forum  and  on  the  field. 

So  useful,  patriotic  and  inspiring  an  occupation  as  gathering,  arrang 
ing,  and  illustrating  any  series  of  American  autographs  is  worthy  of  all 


4  PREFA  TOR  Y. 

praise,  and  it  may  well  be  hoped  that  such  letters  and  documents  as 
have  escaped  the  thoughtless  vandalism  of  the  past  may  be  utilized  in 
forming  holograph  collections  of  the  great  men  and  worthy  women  of 
a  former  day,  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  any  department  of 
history,  literature,  or  science.  When  properly  grouped,  illustrated, 
and  bound,  such  collections  possess  an  interest  that  no  mere  book  can 
ever  impart,  because  such  a  volume  is  unique  in  itself,  and  the  auto 
graphic  specimens  which  form  the  collection  inspire  within  us  a  love 
and  reverence  for  the  writers  we  should  not  otherwise  feel,  and  serve, 
moreover,  to  give  us  new  sources  of  studying  their  lives,  characters,  and 
solid  worth  to  their  fellows  and  their  country. 

While  enjoying,  with  pardonable  pride,  the  gathering  and  possession 
of  noble  collections  of  autographs,  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that  several 
of  our  American  collectors  design  providing  for  the  eventual  transfer 
ence  of  their  treasures  to  deserving  public  libraries  of  our  country, 
where  they  will  be  preserved  with  pious  care  for  all  time,  and  thus  be 
made  to  subserve  the  noblest  purposes  of  patriotism  and  history. 
This  is  highly  creditable  to  the  foresight  and  good  judgment  of  such 
persons,  and  is  worthy  of  emulation  by  other  possessors  of  similar 
inestimable  literary  gatherings. 

The  reproduction  of  this  essay  on  the  autographic  collections  and 
collectors  of  our  country,  in  this  neat  and  tasteful  form,  is  due  to  the 
enterprise  of  Charles  De  F.  Burns,  the  American  pioneer  in  the  distri 
bution  of  the  written  remains  of  the  heroes  and  worthies  of  the  past, 
and  an  expert  as  well  of  their  genuineness  and  value.  For  a  long 
series  of  years  Mr.  Burns'  aid,  experience,  and  judgment  have  been 
called  into  requisition  in  forming  and  improving  many  valuable  col 
lections,  gathered  by  the  good  taste  of  not  a  few  persons  in  our  widely- 
extended  country. 

L.  C.  D. 

MADISON,  Wis.,  March  ist,  1889. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


ALLEN,  Mrs.  Eliza  H.,  early  autograph  collector,  ir,  30,  32,  81-83,  97- 
Andrews,  Frank  D.,  autograph  collection,  98,  109-10. 
Autographs,  origin  and  growth  abroad,  9-11. 

early  collections  in  United  States,  11—19,  IO3~4- 
abbreviations  used,  46. 
counterfeits,  20-28,  111-13. 

"  difference  in  character  and  value,  19,  20. 

of  the  signers,   wrong  persons,  28-30. 

slow  progress  in  forming  sets,  30. 
sets  extant,  1870-76,  30,  31. 
subsequent  additions,  31,  32. 
Victoria's  supposed  set,  31. 
dispersed  sets,  31. 
transferred  sets,  31,  32. 
classification  of,  19,  20,  59,  105. 
"  cost  of  full  sets,  13,  61,  68,  76,  81,  95. 

cost  of  single  specimens,  76,  78,  80,  102. 
rarity  of  specimens,  16,  17,  32,  34,  44,  45,  53. 
judges  and  experts  of,  66,  90. 
of  non-signers,  relative  rarity,  105,  106. 

names  of,  35,  36,  43,  53,  54. 

BAIRD,  Henry  C.,  and  C.  G.  Barney,  early  collectors,  n,  103. 
Bartlett,  Josiah,  portrait  and  autographs  of,  29,  37,  42. 
Bell,  Hon.  Charles  H.,  collections,  98,  99,  109. 
Borden,  Arba,  collection,  101. 
Braxton,  Carter,  portrait  and  autographs,  37-43. 
Brown,  Harold,  collection,  95. 
Burns,  C.   De  F.,  good  services,  4,  12,  30,  31,  37-42,  44,  45,  47,  63,  64,  68,  6g, 

77,  80,  103. 

CARROLL,  Charles,  noticed,  29,  51,  105. 

Chamberlain,  Hon.  Mellen,  collections,  n,  19,  30,  32,  68,  74,  86-87,  99,  109. 
Cist,  Lewis  J.,  early  collector,  n,  18,  28,  30,  31,  102. 
Cohen,  Mrs.  D.  J.,  collections,  n,  30,  32,  34,  74,  91. 
Conarroe,  Geo.  M.,  collections,  n,  95,  109. 
DANFORTH,  Hon.  Elliot,  collections,  90. 
Davis,  Robert  C.,  early  collector,  n,  20,  30,  32,  42,  71,  102,  113. 


6  GENERAL  INDEX. 

Dickinson,  John,  noticed,  36,  54-55.  57- 

Dreer,  Ferd.  J.,   collections,   n,  16,  21,  24,  25,  27,  30,  32-34,  44,  66-68,  95-96, 

97-98,  107. 

Drexel,  Jos.  W.,  collections,  n,  13,  18,  30,  32,  79~81,  lo8- 
Dubbs,  Rev.  Jos.  H.,  D.D.,  collections,  94-95,  108. 
EDGERLY,  James  A.,  collections,  91. 
Ely,  Mrs.  Wm.  D.,  collections,  n,  30,  32,  34,  81-83. 
Emmet,  Dr.  Thos.  A.,  collections,  n,  19,  24-26,  30-34,  37,  38,  75-76, 77~78,  79>  8o- 

"  "  first  set  of  signers,  60-61. 

"  "  second  set  of  signers,  60,  61,  77~78- 

"  third       "  "         61,  81. 

"  fourth    "  "         62,  85. 

"  "  other  series,  61-63,  107. 

"  "  letter  on  Burns's  engravings,  38-42. 

Etting,  Col.   F.  M.,  collections,  II,  24,  25,  27,  30,  34,  44,  101,  108. 
FAXON,  Wm.  B.,  collections,  97. 
Federal  Convention,   1787,  sets  of  signers,  56-57,  61,  62,  64,  66,  68,  70-73,  80, 

82,  86,  87,  89,  90,  96. 

Federal  Convention,  1787,  Ford's  list  of  members  chosen,  106,  114-17. 
Federal  Convention,  1787,  autographs  of  non-signers,  relative  rarity,  105-6. 
Fogg,  Dr.  John  S.  H.,  collections,  n,  24-27,  69-71,  80,  88.  106-7. 
Ford,  Gordon  L.,  collections,  II,  26,  98,  109. 

Ford,  Paul  L.,list  of  members  of  Federal  Convention,  106,  114-17. 
Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin,  mentioned,  27,  28,  50,  67,  75. 
GENERALS  of  the  Revolution,  sets  of  autographs,  62,  64,  68,  70-72,  86,  87,  89, 

90,  94,  96,  99,  101. 

Gibbes,  Dr.  R.  W.,  early  collector,  n,  19,  31,  32. 
Gilman,  Rev.  Samuel,  mentioned.  17-19,  32,  53,  66,  67. 
Gilmor,  Robert,  early  collector,  u,  15,  16,  30,  32. 
Gratz,  Simon,  collections,  u,  20-28,  30-34,  63-66,  87,  106,  112. 
Greenough,  Chs.  P.,  collections,  96,  109. 
Gunther,  Chs.  F.,  collections,  n,  91,  108. 
Gwinnett,   Button,  rarity  of  autograph,  16,  32,  33,  37~39.  43,  45>  53,  6o>  64,  66, 

71,  72,  73,  80,  81,  84. 

HALE,  John  M.,  collections,  n,  32,  85-6,  108. 
Hall,  Lyman,  autograph,  17,  32,  34,  37,  38,  43,  45,  72. 
Hancock,  John,  autograph,  64,  66,  67,  82,  84,  96. 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  portrait,  29,  36-38. 
Hart,  John,  portrait  and  autograph,  16,  29,  34,  37-9,  43,  45,  49>  53,  60,  68,  69, 

7i,  72,  74- 

Hathaway,  Miss  Mary  D.,  collections,  99. 
Hewes,  Joseph,  autograph,  16,  34,  45,  53,  60,  66,  72. 

Heyward,  Thomas,  Jr.,  autograph,  29,  32,  34,  45,  52,  53,  60,  69,  71,  72,  74,  81,  82. 
Hitchcock,  Hiram,  collections,  n,  91. 


GENERAL   INDEX.  7 

Hoadley,  Chas.  J.,  collections,  100. 

Hollingsworth,  Z.  T.,  collections,  IOI. 

Howarth,  James  W.,  collections,  93-4,  100,  108-9. 

INDEPENDENCE,  Declaration  of,  broadsides,  77-8,  79,  88,  96. 

"         fac-simile,  1824,  note,  26. 

"         Charles  Carroll's  edition,  105. 
JEFFERSON,  Thomas,  Mss.,  103. 

Jones,  Charles  C.,  LL.D.,  collections,  n,  19,  32-34,  72-4,  83,  107. 
LANE,  Eben,  collections,  101. 
Lee,  Francis  L.,  portrait,  37-39,  43. 

Leffingwell,  Prof.  E.  H.,  collections,  II,  30,  32,  34,  68-9,  92,  107-8. 
Lossing,  B.  J.,  LL.D.,  books  and  engravings,  39—43. 
Lynch,  Thomas,  Jr.,  rarity  of  autograph,  16,   18,  19,  27,  29,   31-2,  42,  45,   52, 

53,  60,  64,  66,  68,  69,  71-4,  76,  79.  84,  85. 
MADISON,  James,  Mss.,  103. 

Mayer,  Col.  Brantz  and  Henry  C.  Murphy,  early  collectors,  n,  103. 
McGuire,  James  C.,  and  F.  B.,  collections,  22,  24,  103. 
Mickley,  Joseph  J.,  early  collector,  II,  30,  31,  80,  101-2, 
Middleton,  Arthur,  autograph,  32,  34-5,  45,  53,  60,  69,  71,  72. 
Morris,  Lewis,  autograph,  17,  29,  34,  38,  40,  43,  45. 
Morton,  John,  autograph,  no  portrait,   16,  30,  34,  37,   38,  40,  42-5,   53,  60,  64, 

66,  68,  69,  71,  72,  84,  88. 

Myers,  Col.  T.  B.,  collections,  II,  19,  21,  30,  32,  33,  39,  60,  76,  78-79,  88. 
NEW  YORK  State  Library,  collections,  n,  30,  32,  34,  81. 
OGDEN,  Charles  S.,  collections,  99. 
PAINE,  Nathaniel,  collections,  96. 

Penn,  John,  autograph  and  education,  34,  37  9,  43,  45,  72. 
Penn,  William,  Mss.,  67,  89. 

Pennsylvania  Hist.  Society,  collections,  II,  19,  21,  26,  32,  33,  34,  75-6,  99,  no. 
RAFFLES,  T.  Stamford,  collections,  15,  17-19,  30,  32,  34,  83-5. 
Reed,  Byron,  collections,  93. 

Revolutionary  and  other  Ms.  collections,  96,  99,  101,  103. 
Roberts,  Charles,  collections,  n,  30,  32,  42,  44,  71-2,  90,  94,  107. 
Robeson,  Andrew,  collections,  83,  97. 
Rodney,  Caesar  A.,  portrait,  37,  38,  41,  43. 
Roper,  Lewis,  early  collector,  n,  101. 
Ross,  George,  autograph,  29,  37,  38,  45. 
Rush,  Benjamin,  autograph,  75,  88. 
Rutledge,  Edward,  autograph  and  Mss.,  34,  38,  66,  67. 
SANDERSON,  Howard  K.,  n,  92-93. 
Signers  of  Declaration  of  Independence,  sets,  46-56,  60-87. 

incomplete,  87-105. 
TrumbulPs  picture,  34-38,  40-43. 
Hunt's  engravings,  37-43. 


8  GENERAL   INDEX. 

Signers  of  Declaration — Lossing's  engravings,  42-43. 

unknown  representation,  38-39,  43-44. 
"  Burns'  engravings,  37-38. 

Emmet's  letter  on  Burns'  engravings,  38-42. 
Additional  explanations,  42-43. 
"  Constitution,  sets,  56-59,  105-9. 

incomplete,  109-10, 

Albany  Congress,  1754,  62,  64,  70,  87,  90. 
of  Stamp  Act  Congress,  1765,  62,  64,  70,  87,90. 
of  old  Congress,  1774-89,  61,  62,  64,  70,  72,  75,  86,  87,  89,  97. 
"  of  Confederation  1778,  62,  64,  68,  88. 

Annapolis  Convention,  1786,  64,  70. 
Hartford  Convention,  1814,  64,  70, 
Washington's  Aides -de-Camp,  65,  70,  89. 
Presidents  and  Cabinets,  62,  64,  68,  69,  70,  71,  72,  73,  83,  86,  88,  89, 

90,  93,  95,  96,  97- 

"  Supreme  Court  Judges,  64,  69,  72,  74,  86. 

Spaulding,  Mrs.  Sarah  J.,  collection,  101. 

Sprague,  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  B.,  12-19,  3°~33>  53>  60,  75-76,  83,  85,  Io8. 
Sprague,  E.  E.  &  W.  B.,  Jr.,  14,  15,  19,  30,  32,  74-76. 
Spring,  Robert,  counterfeiter,  27-28,  111-13. 

Stauffer,  D.  McN.,  collections,  24,  25,  27,  30,  88-90,  97,  104,  107. 
Steele,  Fred.  M.,  collections,  26,  27,  100. 
Stockton,  Richard,  portrait,  16,  29,  34,  38,  45,  73,  74. 
TAYLOR,  George,  autograph,  16,  17,  28,  29,  30,  37,  38,  40,  41,  43,  45. 
Tefft,  Israel  K.,  early  collector,  11-13,  17,  18,  32,  33,  40,  41,  53,  66,  72,  80,  8l,  85. 
Thacher,  Hon.  John  Boyd,  collections,  n,  19,  21,  30,  32,  33,  74-75,  91,  no. 
Thatcher,  B.  B.,  early  collector,  n,  15,  16,  44,  104. 
Thornton,  Matthew,  portrait,  17,  37,  39,  43,  66. 
Trance-speakers,  54-55. 
Turner,  James  W. ,  counterfeiter,  20-28. 
VAN  SCHAACK,  Hon.  Henry  C.,  early  collector,  100. 
Vroom,  Hon.  Garret  D.  W.,  collections,  98,  109. 
WASHINGTON,  George,  Mss.,  65,  66-67,  75.  80,  88,  93,  101,  103. 

"  counterfeit  letters,  27,  28,  111-13. 

Whipple,  William,  portrait,  37,  46,  60. 
Willard,  Henry  A.,  collections,  n,  22,  25-27,  33,  91-92. 
Williams,  William,  portrait,  38,  39. 

Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  collections,  II,  32,  45-59,  70-71,  107. 
Wright,  Hon.  J.  Ridgeway,  collections,  95. 


OF  TUB 

17    i 


AUTOGRAPH    COLLECTIONS. 


THE   London   Athenceum  declared,    in   1855,  tnat   "the  story  of 
what  History  owes  to  the   autograph  collectors  would  make  a 
pretty  book."     Interesting  as  this  phase  of  the  subject  might  be  made, 
it  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  present  paper  to  attempt  its  elucidation. 

Sir  Richard  Phillips,  whose  career  extended  from  1767  to  1840, 
claimed  in  his  day  to  have  been  the  pioneer  in  the  collection  of  auto 
graphs.  This  may  have  been  true  so  far  as  England  is  concerned, 
limiting  his  collection  to  varieties  made  for  the  single  object  of 
curiosity.  An  autograph  collection,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of 
the  term,  should  not  be  confounded  with  collections  of  historical 
manuscripts,  made  and  preserved  by  Governments,  Libraries,  and 
historians,  for  purposes  of  public  records,  or  as  materials  for  historic 
literature.  Such  collections  date  back  to  the  times  of  papyrus  manu 
scripts  and  the  Alexandrian  Library,  long  anterior  to  the  discovery  of 
printing. 

Some  vague  references  to  autographs  may  be  traced  back  to  the 
palmy  days  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Autograph  signatures  in  albums, 
we  are  told,  were  known  as  early  as  1466  ;  and  about  the  year  1550, 
persons  of  quality  took  about  with  them  elegant  blank  books  for  the 
signatures  of  eminent  persons  or  valued  friends.  One  of  these  albums, 
preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  bears  date  1578.  In  Germany, 
over  three  hundred  years  ago,  the  practice  of  making  collections  of 
autographs  seems  to  have  been  quite  common.  It  began  with  noble 
men,  and  persons  of  taste  and  wealth.  The  custom  soon  spread  to 
other  countries.  Many  large  autograph  collections  were  formed  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  notably  those  in  France  of  Antoine  Lomenie" 
de  Brienneand  Le  Croix  du  Maine — Brienne's  collection  reaching  340 
large  folio  volumes,  preserved  in  the  French  National  Library. 

Similar  collections  have  been  made  in  England.     Sir  Robert  Bruce 
Cotton,  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  and  Sir  Thomas  Bodley  were  the  pioneers  of 
•2. 


10  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

this  good  service  in  that  country.  Cotton's  career  extended  from  1570 
to  1631  ;  and  his  gatherings  embraced  ancient  records,  charters  and 
other  manuscripts,  which  had  been  dispersed  from  the  monastic  libra 
ries  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII — among  which  is  the  original  of 
the  famous  Magna  Charta,  the  foundation  of  British  constitutional 
freedom,  wrung  by  the  sturdy  barons  from  the  reluctant  King  John, 
in  1512.  His  library  and  manuscripts,  which  had  received  numerous 
additions  from  his  son  and  grandson,  after  having  been  partially 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1731,  were  transferred,  while  still  numbering  over 
20,000  articles,  to  the  British  Museum,  in  1757.  This  was  apparently 
the  earliest  collection  of  the  kind  made  in  England. 

Sir  Hans  Sloane,  born  in  1660,  and  dying  in  1752,  made  a  wonder 
ful  gathering  of  autographs  in  his  day,  commencing  early  and  continu 
ing  to  the  end  of  his  extended  life  of  nearly  ninety-two  years.  As  a 
great  physician  and  naturalist,  and  long  president  of  the  Royal  Society, 
his  tastes  were  largely  in  the  line  of  natural  science  ;  yet  his  collections 
embraced  many  works  and  manuscripts  on  history,  and  his  cabinet  ot 
curiosities  was  the  finest  of  his  time.  Extremely  solicitous  that  the 
rich  garnerings  of  a  lifetime  should  not  be  scattered  at  his  death,  and 
unwilling  that  so  large  a  portion  of  his  fortune  should  be  entirely  lost 
to  his  children,  he  bequeathed  the  whole  to  the  public  on  condition 
that  Parliament  should  make  good  ^"20,000  to  his  family.  This  sum, 
though  large  in  appearance,  was  scarcely  more  than  the  intrinsic  value 
of  the  gold  and  silver  medals,  the  ores  and  precious  stones,  in  the 
cabinet  alone  ;  for  in  his  last  will  he  declares,  that  the  first  cost  of  the 
whole  collection  amounted  to  ,£50,000.  Parliament  accepted  his 
legacy,  and  from  this  ample  beginning  the  British  Museum  had  its 
origin,  supplemented  shortly  after  by  the  noble  Cottonian  collection. 
Among  the  Sloane  Library  of  upwards  of  50,000  volumes,  there  were 
347  illustrated  with  cuts  finely  engraved,  and  colored  from  nature  ; 
and  4,100  volumes  of  manuscripts,  together  with  an  infinite  number 
of  rare  and  curious  works  of  every  kind. 

Sir  Thomas  Bodley  gathered  his  library  and  manuscripts  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the 
noble  Bodleian  Library  of  Oxford,  since  augmented  by  many  additions 
to  22,000  volumes;  and  in  many  departments,  these  collections  are 
unique  and  invaluable. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  II 

The  subsequent  manuscript  additions  to  the  British  Museum,  since 
the  Sloane  and  Cotton  foundation,  have  been  very  large.  The  collec 
tion  of  Robert  Harley,  Earl  of  Oxford,  numbered  over  7,600  volumes, 
containing  40,000  documents;  the  Lansdowne  MSS.  consisted  o 
1,245  volumes  ;  while  the  Hargrave,  Burney,  Grenville  and  other  col 
lections  have  served  to  swell  this  great  storehouse  of  manuscripts  to 
magnificent  proportions,  enriching  and  elucidating  every  department 
of  historic,  scientific,  and  miscellaneous  literature. 

Auction  sales  of  autographs  began  in  London  early  in  this  century  ; 
and  since  about  1823  they  have  been  quite  frequent  both  in  London 
and  Paris. 

The  pioneer  autograph  collectors  in  the  United  States  were  Israel  K. 
Tefft,  of  Savannah  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  B.  Sprague,  of  Albany  ;  and  Robert 
Gilmor,  of  Baltimore  :  followed  by  Lewis  J.  Cist,  of  Cincinnati ;  B.  B. 
Thatcher,  Hon.  Mellen  Chamberlain,  Dr.  John  S.  H.  Fogg,  and 
Chas.  P.  Greenough,  of  Boston  ;  Howard  K.  Sanderson,  Lynn ; 
Nathaniel  Paine,  Worcester  ;  Maj.  B.  P.  Poore,  Newburyport ;  Charles 
H.  Morse,  of  Cambridgeport ;  Mrs.  Wm.  Hathaway,  New  Bedford; 
Prof.  E.  H.  Leffingwell,  New  Haven  ;  Mrs.  E.  H.  Allen,  Providence  ; 
Dr.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Col.  T.  B.  Myers,  Almon  W.  Griswold, 
Jos.  W.  Drexel,  Hiram  Hitchcock,  and  D.  McN.  Stauffer,  New 
York ;  Hon.  Henry  C.  Murphy  and  Gordon  L.  Ford,  Brooklyn  ; 
Hon.  H.  S.  Randall,  Cortland  Village,  N.  Y.  ;  Hon.  John  Boyd 
Thacher,  Albany  ;  Hon.  Elliot  Danforth,  Bainbridge,  N.  Y.  ;  Hon. 
Henry  C.  Van  Schaack,  Manlius,  N.  Y.  ;  G.  D.  W.  Vroom,  Trenton, 
N.  J.  ;  Dr.  Lewis  Roper,  Ferd.  J.  Dreer,  Simon  Gratz,  Robert  C. 
Davis,  J.  J.  Mickley,  Henry  C.  Baird,  Charles  Roberts,  and  Geo.  M. 
Conarroe,  Philadelphia  ;  Col.  Frank  M.  Etting,  Ward  P.  O.,  Penn.  ; 
John  M.  Hale,  Philipsburg,  Penn.  ;  Rev.  J.  H.  Dubbs,  Lancaster, 
Penn.  ;  James  W.  Howarth,  Glen  Riddle,  Penn.  ;  Dr.  J.  I.  Cohen, 
and  Col.  Brantz  Mayer,  Baltimore  ;  Henry  A.  Willard,  Washington  ; 
Dr.  C.  G.  Barney,  Richmond  ;  Prof.  R.  W.  Gibbes,  Columbia,  S.  C.  ; 
Col.  C.  C.  Jones,  Augusta,  Ga. ;  Chas.  F.  Gunther,  Chicago  ;  Byron 
Reed,  Omaha,  Neb.  ;  and  State  Historical  Society,  Madison,  Wis 
consin. 

The  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  and  New  York  State  Library, 
though  having  valuable  sets  of  autographs,  secured  them  in  their  col- 


12  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

lected  condition,  by  purchase,  and  were  not  collectors  by  piecemeal. 
Charles  De  F.  Burns,  of  New  York,  as  a  dealer  in  autographs,  and 
publisher  of  the  American  Antiquarian,  has,  for  a  long  series  of  years, 
rendered  singular  aid  to  many  collectors  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Tefft  seems  to  have  been  the  precursor  in  the  collection  of  auto 
graphs  in  this  country.  Born  in  Smithfield,  R.  I.,  February  12,  1795, 
he  early  lost  his  parents,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  He  acted  awhile 
as  a  book-keeper  in  a  manufacturing  establishment.  In  1816,  he 
removed  to  Savannah,  where  he  engaged  in  business,  till  misfortunes 
overtook  him,  when  he  served  with  credit  as  a  clerk,  editor  of  literary 
papers,  and  cashier  of  a  bank.  He  commenced  saving  autographs  as 
early  as  1815-16,  without,  apparently,  at  its  commencement  any  defi 
nite  purpose.  "He  kept  it  very  quiet  at  first,"  as  he  naively  said  in 
after  years,  "feeling  for  some  time  very  shy  of  being  known  as  the 
collector  of  such  things."  He  could  not  have  entered  very  enthusias 
tically  into  the  work  until  many  years  thereafter  ;  for,  Dr.  Sprague  says, 
when  he  visited  Mr.  Tefft  at  Savannah,  in  1830,  his  collection  was  in  a 
very  incipient  state,  probably  not  numbering  more  than  twenty  or 
thirty  letters.  But  some  of  these  must  have  been  rarities,  for  when  Dr. 
Sprague  made  this  visit,  Mr.  Tefft  most  courteously  and  generously 
offered  for  the  Doctor's  acceptance  such  of  his  autographs  as  he  did 
not  possess.  Dr.  Sprague  selected  quite  a  number,  assuring  his 
Savannah  friend  that  he  would  return  their  full  equivalent.  At  first, 
Mr.  Tefft  grieved  not  a  little  over  the  loss  of  the  gems  of  his  collection, 
and  felt  that  his  spirit  for  further  gathering  was  broken,  and  that  he 
should  scarcely  seek  to  make  good  the  ravages  of  this  great  Northern 
despoiler.  "But,"  said  Mr.  Tefft,  many  years  after,  "never  was 
promise  more  faithfully  kept ;  my  gift  to  Dr.  Sprague  was  literally 
bread  thrown  on  the  water — it  returned  to  me  a  thousand-fold  ;  and  to 
his  steady  liberality  and  friendship  have  I  been  indebted,  more  than  to 
all  others,  for  the  value  of  my  collection."  * 

Another  anecdote  is  related  of  Mr.  Tefft,  which  illustrates  how  acci 
dent  sometimes  furnishes  what  the  most  patient  inquiry  had  failed  to 
supply.  Visiting  a  gentleman's  residence  near  Savannah — apparently 
after  1845 — Mr.  Tefft,  finding  the  owner  absent,  walked  out  on  the 

*  American  Antiquarian,  August,  1870. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  1 3 

lawn,  when  a  paper  was  blown  across  his  path,  and  listlessly  picking 
it  up,  he  joyfully  discovered  it  to  be  one  of  the  rare  autographs  of  -a. 
Georgia  Signer  of  the  Declaration — the  only  one  he  then  lacked  to 
complete  his  set,  and  of  which  he  had  long  been  in  active  pursuit. 
When  the  owner  returned,  and  Mr.  Tefft  had  transacted  his  business 
with  him,  he  was  asked  to  specify  the  amount  of  his  fee.  "  Nothing," 
said  Mr.  Tefft,  "  if  you  will  allow  me  to  keep  this  piece  of  paper  I 
found  on  your  lawn."  The  owner  replied  that  he  was  welcome  to  it  ; 
that  its  writer  had  once  occupied  the  place,  and  his  own  servants  had 
recently  cleaned  an  old  garret  of  papers  of  which  this  was  a  waif.  Mr. 
Tefft  related  this  circumstance  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  evidently 
valued  this  prodigal  more  than  any  other  of  the  rarities  of  his  many 
years  of  persevering  search.  *  This  it  would  seem  was  the  autograph 
of  Button  Gwinnett,  the  rarest  not  only  of  the  Georgia  signers,  but, 
save  Lynch,  of  the  whole  immortal  fifty-six. 

Mr.  Tefft,  after  having  formed  one  full  set  of  autographs  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Declaration,  and  lacking  only  three  of  another,  and 
having  made  a  splendid  collection  of  other  notable  characters  of  both 
continents,  died  at  Savannah,  June  30,  1862.  He  was  a  noble  man, 
and  liberally  assisted  his  fellow  collectors  with  duplicates — especially 
of  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr. ,  that  rarest  of  autographs  of  the  Signers.  In 
1865,  Almon  W.  Griswold,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  purchased  of  Mr. 
Tefft's  widow,  his  incomplete  set  of  autographs  of  the  Signers,  which 
was  some  years  afterward  disposed  of,  through  Messrs.  Sabin  &  Sons, 
to  Joseph  W.  Drexel,  of  New  York  ;  while  the  full  set  of  the  Declara 
tion  Signers  was  purchased  at  the  Tefft  sale  by  E.  French,  at  $625.00, 
and  subsequently  sold  to  the  New  York  State  Library.  The  remainder 
of  Mr.  Tefft's  valuable  collection  was  disposed  of  at  auction  in  New 
York,  in  March,  1867,  the  catalogue  filling  264  pages,  and  estimated 
to  comprise  25,000  specimens. 

Dr.  Sprague  commenced  his  collection  apparently  as  early  as  the 
autumn  of  1815 — as  soon,  perhaps,  as  Mr.  Tefft,  and  possibly  even 
earlier.  "To  him,"  says  Charles  F.  Fisher,  of  Philadelphia,  "more 
than  to  any  other  single  individual  in  the  country,  are  we  probably 
indebted  for  the  discovery  and  preservation  of  large  masses  of  invalu- 

*  Historical  Magazine,  April,  1862;  American  Antiquarian,  Nov.,  1870. 


14  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

able  correspondence  of  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  times,  which  in 
old  trunks  and  boxes,  in  garrets  and  cellars,  were  fast  hastening  to 
decay,  and  exposed  daily  by  accident  or  carelessness  to  destruction, 
until  rescued  by  his  zealous  and  untiring  researches." 

Dr.  Sprague  was  born  at  Andover,  Conn.,  October  16,  1795,  and 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1815.  During  the  latter  part  of  his 
senior  year  in  college,  he  was  invited,  through  the  Hon.  Timothy 
Pitkin  and  Prof.  Silliman,  of  Yale,  to  go  to  Virginia,  as  an  instructor 
in  the  family  of  Maj.  Lawrence  Lewis,  a  nephew  of  Gen.  Washington, 
whose  wife,  nee  Eleanor  Park  Custis,  was  the  grand-daughter  of  Mrs. 
Washington,  and  the  adopted  daughter  of  the  Great  Chief.  He 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1815  set  out  for  Maj. 
Lewis'  country  seat,  Woodlawn,  which  had  been  a  part  of  Washington's 
plantation,  near  Mount  Vernon.  Here  he  was  cordially  received,  and 
remained  as  a  tutor  in  the  family  until  June,  1816.* 

It  was  during  this  period — embracing  probably  nearly  all  of  it — 
that  he  obtained  permission  from  Judge  Bushrod  Washington,  who 
inherited  the  papers  of  his  distinguished  uncle,  to  take  whatever  letters 
he  might  choose  from  Gen.  Washington's  voluminous  correspondence, 
provided  only  that  he  would  leave  copies  in  their  stead.  The  result 
was,  that  he  came  into  possession  of  some  1,500  letters,  many  of  which 
were  included  in  the  three  sets  of  the  Signers  which  he  completed. 
"Of  course,"  writes  his  son,  Wm.  B.  Sprague,  Jr.,  "many  other 
autographs  were  obtained  from  friends  by  way  of  exchange,  but  a  very 
large  number  of  his  collections  were  addressed  to  Washington,  and 
bear  his  endorsement."  Dr.  Emmet  had  thought,  from  what  Dr. 
Sprague  had  told  him,  that  the  latter  had,  with  his  exchange  with  Mr. 
TerTt,  made  up  from  his  Washington  collection  a  full  set  of  the  Signers, 
and  all  the  Generals  of  the  Revolution. 

Mr.  Gratz  states  that,  of  Dr.  Sprague's  best  set  of  Signers,  which 
eventually  came  into  his  possession,  twenty-one  were  addressed  to 
Washington  ;  and,  from  this  set,  five  had  previously  been  exchanged 
with  Dr.  Emmet,  including  the  Lynch  letter,  and  letters  of  Heyward 
and  Middleton.  Mr.  Gratz  adds,  that  a  few  of  the  letters  in  his  set  of 


*  Charles  B.  Moore's  Memoir  of  Dr.  Sprague,  in  IV.  Y.  Genealogic-Biographi- 
cal  Record,  Jan.,  1877. 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS.  1 5 

the  Signers,  obtained  by  Dr.  Sprague  from  the  Washington  manu 
scripts,  are  represented  in  duplicate  in  the  second  Sprague  set  of  the 
Signers,  now  belonging  to  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society.  It 
would  appear,  therefore,  that  aside  from  some  duplicates,  Dr.  Sprague 
did  not  acquire  from  the  Washington  manuscripts  to  exceed  twenty- 
nine  letters  of  the  Signers, — except  duplicates,  a  little  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  whole  number.  He  probably  had  to  exchange  duplicates 
for  many  he  did  not  possess,  not  only  with  Mr.  Tefft,  as  Dr.  Emmet 
states,  but  with  several  others,  as  indicated  by  Wm.  B.  Sprague,  Jr. 

There  is  a  pretty  general  opinion  with  our  oldest  and  most  intelli 
gent  autograph  collectors,  that  Dr.  Sprague  originated  the  idea  of 
making  a  collection  of  the  autographs  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  ;  and  that  he  was  undoubtedly  the  first  to  complete 
his  set.  The  date  of  its  completion  is  not  known — it  was,  however, 
prior  to  1834  ;  for  Dr.  Oilman's  first  visit  to  Mr!  Tefft,  in  1834,  in 
connection  with  Benjamin  B.  Thatcher's*  letter  of  June,  1835, 
reproduced  in  Burns's  American  Antiquarian  of  September,  1871, 
show  that  Robert  Gilmor,  of  Baltimore,  had  made  his  collection  of 
the  Signers  complete,  with  the  single  exception  of  Lynch ;  Mr. 
Thatcher  adding  :  "Rev.  Mr.  Sprague  has  outrun  him  in  this  field, 
for  he  has  the  whole,  and  so  has  Dr.  Raffles,  of  Liverpool,  and  these 
are  the  only  two  complete  sets  in  the  world.''  Dr.  Raffles'  collection 
was  not  yet  complete  ;  it  then  lacked  at  least  George  Taylor's  auto 
graph. 

Dr.  Sprague  passed  away  May  7,  1876,  but  not  until  he  had  gathered 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  valuable  private  collections  of  autographs 
in  this  country — numbering,  it  is  said,  40,000  specimens.  He  com 
pleted  three  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
two  of  which  remain  intact,  and  hereafter  noticed  ;  while  the  third 
set  has  been  broken  up,  and  gone  to  improve  or  fill  up  deficiencies  in 
other  sets — some  in  completing  that  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical 
Society. 

Mr.  Thatcher  testified,  in  1835,  to  Dr.  Sprague's  wonderful  collec 
tion — as  "  at  the  head  of  the  list  longo  iniervallo,  being  composed  of 

*  This  earliest  writer  on  American  autograph  collections  was  born  in  Warren, 
Me.,  Oct.  8,  1809,  and  died  in  Boston,  July  14,  1840.  He  was  the  author  of  a 
number  of  useful  works. 


1 6  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

20,000  specimens,  at  least — an  enormous  multitude,  indicating,  most 
significantly,  the  vast  pains  which  must  have  been  taken  by  that  intelli 
gent,  amiable,  and  indefatigable  enthusiast  to  enhance  the  extent  of 
his  treasures." 

Dr.  Sprague  was  a  man  of  remarkable  industry.  Besides  his  pulpit 
ministrations,  he  wrote  no  less  than  sixteen  different  works  between 
1821  and  1866 — one,  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  is  a  production 
of  great  merit,  in  nine  volumes.  He  also  wrote  numerous  introduc 
tions  to  biographical  and  other  works,  was  a  contributor  to  Appletons' 
New  American  Cyclopedia,  and  the  author  of  more  than  100  pamphlets. 
The  gathering  of  book  materials,  notably  for  his  great  work  on  the 
American  Pulpit,  largely  contributed  to  the  augmentation  of  his  won 
derful  autograph  collection.  Take  him  all  in  all,  Dr.  Sprague  fills  a 
distinguished  and  unique  place  in  the  history  of  American  literature, 
and  is  accorded  on  all  hands  the  highest  rank  among  the  early 
American  autograph  collectors. 

Robert  Gilmor,  of  Baltimore,  was  also  an  early  and  successful  col 
lector  of  autographs.  He  was  a  man  of  liberal  means,  and  one  year, 
while  in  Europe,  expended  $30,000  for  paintings,  autographs,  and 
other  objects  of  virtu.  Dr.  Jared  Sparks,  who  resided  awhile  in  Balti 
more,  aided  Mr.  Gilmor  very  materially.  Mr.  Thatcher's  description 
of  his  collection,  as  it  existed  early  in  1835,  represents  it  as  less  volu 
minous,  but  more  general  and  valuable,  autographically  considered, 
than  Dr.  Sprague's.  It  was  very  rich  in  specimens  of  noted  English 
and  French  characters — Mr.  Thatcher  enumerating  many  of  them. 
Mr.  Gilmor  lived  to  supply  his  wanting  Lynch  autograph  ;  and,  dying 
at  the  age  of  seventy-four,  Nov.  30,  1848,  his  collection  mainly  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ferd.  J.  Dreer,  of  Philadelphia,  including  his 
set  of  the  Signers,  while  another  portion  was  scattered,  and  aided  mate 
rially  in  making  up  and  improving  other  collections.  In  his  lifetime, 
Mr.  Gilmor  had  bestowed  upon  the  Maryland  Historical  Society  a 
rich  array  of  manuscripts,  illustrating  the  period  of  the  French  and 
Revolutionary  wars  ;  and  these  Gilmor  Papers  will  long  serve  to  per 
petuate  his  memory. 

The  deaths  of  several  of  the  Signers  during  the  Revolutionary  con 
test — Morton  and  Gwinnett,  in  1777  ;  Livingston,  in  1778  ;  Hewes 
and  Lynch,  in  1779  ;  Hart,  in  1780;  Taylor  and  Stockton,  in  1781 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  l"J 

— so  soon  after  appending  their  names  to  the  immortal  Declaration, 
have  contributed  to  render  their  autographs  exceedingly  rare  in  any 
form.  These  names,  with  the  other  North  and  South  Carolina  Sign 
ers,  together  with  Thornton,  Samuel  Adams,  Hopkins,  Lewis  Morris, 
Stone,  Wythe,  and  Hall,  are  among  those  most  difficult  to  obtain. 

Some  time  prior  to  1834,  Dr.  Sprague  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain 
a  Lynch  signature  from  Gen.  James  Hamilton,  of  South  Carolina,  a 
nephew  of  that  Signer,  which  he  generously  sent  to  Dr.  Raffles,  an 
indication  that  at  this  time  Dr.  Sprague  had  no  thought  of  attempting 
the  formation  of  any  set  of  the  Signers  beyond  that  which  he  had 
already  completed  ;  and  Mr.  Tefft  supplied  his  English  friend  with  an 
official  order,  signed  by  Gwinnett.  Still  Dr.  Raffles  lacked  a  Taylor 
autograph  to  complete  his  collection — so  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Tefft.  This 
letter  was  shown  to  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Oilman,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  on 
his  first  visit  to  Mr.  Tefft,  in  1834  :  "I  now,"  wrote  Dr.  Raffles, 
"possess  every  Signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  save  one, 
viz.,  George  Taylor."  On  Dr.  Oilman's  second  visit,  early  in  1837,* 
Mr.  Tefft  showed  him  a  letter  from  Dr.  Raffles,  "recently  received," 
in  which  he  said  :  "  Pray,  are  your  Signers  complete  ?  I  look  with 
mingled  emotions  of  sorrow  and  hope  upon  the  only  hiatus  I  have  in 
mine."  How  the  good  Doctor's  heart  must  have  leaped  for  joy 
when  he,  not  long  thereafter,  opened  a  letter  from  his  fellow  collector, 
Dr.  Sprague,  to  find  the  long-sought  "hiatus"  supplied.  It  was  a 
legal  document,  with  the  Christian  name  of  the  signature  unfortunately 
torn  off — still  it  served  to  perfect  his  set  of  the  Signers.  Its  genuine 
ness  was  vouched  for  by  Dr.  Sprague  as  an  "original  manuscript  of 
George  Taylor,  one  of  the  Signers,  "f 

*  The  dates  of  these  two  visits  are  determined  by  the  time  of  their  publication 
in  The  Rose,  a  literary  journal,  edited  by  Dr.  Oilman  and  lady,  at  Charleston — 
the  first  part  of  A  Week  Among  Autographs  appearing  in  the  issue  of  April  18, 
1835  ;  while  the  results  of  the  second  visit  are  given  from  June  10  to  July  8,  1837. 
The  papers  on  these  visits  were  reproduced,  first  in  Mrs.  Caroline  Gilman's  charm 
ing  volume,  Poetry  of  Traveling,  in  1838  ;  and  somewhat  enlarged  in  Dr.  Gil 
man's  Contributions  to  Literature,  in  1856.  A  file  of  The  Rose  is  preserved  by 
Dr.  Gilman's  daughter,  Mrs.  Eliza  Gilman  Lippitt,  of  Washington,  who  has  kindly 
furnished  these  dates  from  that  source. 

f  Statement  of  Hon.  T.  Stamford  Raffles,  of  Liverpool,  son  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Raffles. 


1 8  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Mr.  Tefft's  first  collection  of  the  Signers,  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Oilman's 
second  visit,  in  1837,  was  still  far  from  being  complete.  He  had  then 
recently  received  from  his  friend,  Dr.  Sprague,  among  numerous  other 
invaluable  specimens,  the  autograph  of  Richard  Stockton.  "It  had 
been  for  years,"  adds  Dr.  Oilman,  "upon  his  list  of  desiderata,  and 
was  almost  despaired  of,  as  being  probably  no  longer  extant. "  He 
still  lacked  seventeen  autographs  to  make  up  his  set  of  the  Signers — 
those  of  Thornton,  Floyd,  Lewis  Morris,  Hart,  Morton,  Ross,  Smith, 
Taylor,  Wilson,  Read,  Rodney,  Stone,  Braxton,  Nelson,  Penn,  Lynch 
and  Middleton.  These  deficiencies  having  been  made  known  by  the 
publication  of  Dr.  Oilman's  paper,  A  Week  Among  Autographs, 
attracted  the  notice  of  persons  who  furnished  him  with  these  desiderata 
— President  Sparks  alone  sending  him  three  letters.  Whether  the  for 
tunate  discovery  of  the  Lynch  signatures  by  Dr.  Oilman,  in  1845, 
served  to  complete  Mr.  Tefft's  first  set,  we  are  not  informed  ;  but  when 
Dr.  Oilman  published  his  Contributions  to  Literature,  in  1856,  in  which 
his  autograph  essay  is  reproduced,  he  states,  that  since  its  original  pub 
lication,  and  in  consequence  of  its  appearance,  Mr.  TefFt  had  com 
pleted  his  collection.  Mr.  Cist,  in  the  Historical  Magazine  of  August, 
1859,  says  "  it  was  perfected  many  years  ago."  Mr.  Tefft's  indomi 
table  perseverance — with  a  supply  of  the  Lynch  signature  to  bank  on — 
enabled  him,  in  a  few  years,  and  prior  to  the  outbreak  of  our  civil 
war,  to  form  nearly  a  second  set,  lacking  only  Paine,  Sherman,  and 
Stone,  which  eventually  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  late  Jos.  W. 
Drexel. 

Up  to  1845,  no  collection  of  the  Signers  was  complete,  save  those 
only  of  Dr.  Sprague  and  Dr.  Raffles.  In  April  and  May  of  that  year, 
Dr.  Oilman  obtained  for  Mr.  Tefft  several  signatures  of  Thomas 
Lynch,  Jr.,  cut  from  a  volume  of  Latin  translations  made  by  him 
while  at  college,  preserved  by  his  nieces,  the  Misses  Bowman,  of 
Charleston,  and  from  fly-leaves  of  printed  books  formerly  belonging 
to  Mr.  Lynch,  which  had  been  presented  by  Mr.  Bowman,  who  had 
married  a  sister  of  the  Signer,  to  the  Apprentices'  Library  of  that  city; 
and  these  precious  signatures  were  presented  by  Dr.  Oilman  to  Mr. 
Tefft,  at  whose  solicitation  he  had  procured  them.  He  at  once  shared 
his  rich  acquisition  with  Mr.  Gilmor,  Mr.  Cist,  and  others,  thus 
enabling  them  to  complete  their  collections,  and  with  Dr.  Sprague  for 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS.  19 

his  additional  sets.  Hon.  Mellen  Chamberlain  writes  :  "I  was  at  Dr. 
Sprague's  house  in  Albany,  I  think,  in  1848,  and  he  then  had  two 
complete  sets  of  the  Signers — one  of  which  he  designed  for  his  son. " 
The  discovery  of  the  Lynch  signatures  has  had  the  happy  effect  of 
completing  no  less  than  fifteen  collections  of  the  Signers. 

Col.  Jones,  of  Georgia,  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  four  Lynch  sig 
natures,  three  of  them  without  the  prefix,  Thomas,  or  suffix,  Junr., 
from  the  Signer's  books  purchased  while  a  student  at  Eton — his  T. 
Lynch,  Junr.,  signature,  in  his  best  set,  is  accompanied  by  one  of 
those  simply  "  Lynch ;"  another  forms  the  Lynch  representation  in 
his  second  set,  while  the  other  fills  its  proper  place  in  his  Old  Con 
gress  series.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  possible  for  this  enterprising  collec 
tor,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  emulate  Dr.  Emmet,  in  the  completion 
of  four  sets  of  the  immortal  Signers.  Col.  Jones  states  that  he 
obtained  these  four  Lynch  signatures  from  a  lineal  descendant  of  one 
of  the  sisters  of  the  Signer,  adding  :  "I  regret  to  say,  that  this  source 
of  supply  is  wholly  exhausted — at  least,  such  is  my  present  informa 
tion." 

So  these  fifteen  Lynch  signatures,  not  reckoning  that  of  Dr.  Gibbes, 
destroyed  at  the  burning  of  Columbia,  appear  to  embrace  all  those 
discovered  by  Dr.  Gilman,  and  four  since  obtained  by  Col.  Jones. 
These,  with  the  peerless  Lynch  letter,  originally  in  Dr.  Sprague's  best 
set,  now  in  Dr.  Emmet's,  with  the  signature  furnished  by  Gov.  Ham 
ilton  to  Dr.  Sprague,  and  by  him  transmitted  to  Dr.  Raffles,  together 
with  the  two  land  documents,  in  the  collections  of  Col.  Meyers  and 
Mr.  Thacher,  and  a  receipt  detached  from  the  deed  in  the  Meyer's 
collection,  given  by  Mr.  Lynch  and  wife  just  prior  to  going  to  sea  in 
1779,  which  now  represents  Lynch  in  the  set  at  the  Pennsylvania  His 
torical  Society.  These  make  the  twenty-four  undoubted  Lynch  auto 
graphs  found,  twenty-two  in  the  full  sets  of  the  Signers  extant,  and  the 
two  extra  signatures  of  Col.  Jones,  and  no  other  genuine  signatures  of 
this  Signer  are  known  to  exist. 

The  difference  in  the  character  and  attractiveness  of  these  several 
collections  is  very  striking.  One  of  the  most  distinguished  collectors 
in  the  country  very  justly  remarks  :  "The  different  sets  of  the  Signers 
that  are  owned  in  the  United  States  vary  greatly  in  character,  interest 
and  value.  Some  of  them  are  as  much  superior  to  others  as  a  perfect 


2O  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Caxton  imprint  is  superior  to  one  that  is  largely  made  up  of  leaves  in 
fac-simile.  Some  are  composed,  to  a  great  extent,  of  A.  L.  S.  of  the 
period,  on  public  matters,  while  others  are  formed  mainly  of  letters 
and  documents  of  a  private  business  character,  written  at  a  date  remote 
from  1776." 

It  is  not  strange  that  some  autographs  of  the  Signers — notably  that 
of  Lynch — have  been  counterfeited.  "A  few  years  ago,"  says  the 
American  Antiquarian  of  Nov.,  1870,  " a  well-dressed  man  called  to 
see  one  of  the  most  eminent  *  collectors  in  Philadelphia,  and  offered 
to  sell  him  a  letter  of  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr.,  which  he  claimed  to  have 
discovered  somewhere  in  the  South.  A  single  glance  satisfied  the  col 
lector  that  it  was  a  base  forgery,  and  tearing  the  document  in  pieces, 
he  handed  back  the  fragments  to  the  stranger,  who  accepted  them,  and 
retired  without  saying  another  word." 

"  Many  years  ago,"  writes  Mr.  Gratz,  "  a  man  residing  in  Washing 
ton,  who  called  himself  James  W.  Turner, f  offered  for  sale  in  Phila 
delphia  counterfeits  of  Lynch  and  other  rare  Signers.  Whether  he  was 
the  person  who  actually  manufactured  these  bogus  autographs,  I  can 
not  say  ;  it  is  probable,  however,  that  he  was.  The  work  was  so  well 
done  that  inexperienced  collectors  were  completely  deceived  by  it ;  in 
fact,  some  old  collectors  were  imposed  upon,  and  purchased  his  wares. 
I  have  seen  not  less  than  half  a  dozen  of  them,  and  two  or  three 
recently,  all  of  these  Washington  city  forgeries. 

"Turner's  first  effort  to  sell  a  Lynch  letter  in  Philadelphia  was  made 
in  the  year  1861.  It  was  successful."  The  prices  variously  paid  for  his 
letters,  so  far  as  known,  were  $10,  $30,  $50,  and  in  one  instance, 
$100.  "Shortly  afterwards,"  continues  Mr.  Gratz,  "he  sent  a  Phila 
delphia  collector  jive  letters  of  Lynch,  written  on  paper  of  different 
sizes,  folio,  quarto,  and  octavo,  so  that  the  collector  might  select  the 
specimen  that  best  suited  him.  By  that  time,  however,  the  fact  had 
become  known  here  that  his  productions  were  not  genuine,  and  he  was 


*  The  late  Robert  C.  Davis. 

f  This  was  probably  an  assumed  name — no  such  person  is  recollected  by  Dr. 
J.  M.  Toner,  and  other  intelligent  surviving  residents  of  Washington  of  the  period 
referred  to  ;  nor  is  any  mention  made  of  James  W.  Turner  in  the  old  directories. 
— Letter  of  W.  A.  Croffut,  Esq.,  of  Washington. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  21 

unable  to  make  any  further  sales  to  Philadelphians.  He  once  paid  a 
visit  to  Philadelphia,  and  tried  to  dispose  of  a  lot  of  counterfeit  Signers. 
He  chanced,  however,  to  offer  them  to  a  dealer  who  was  posted,  and 
who  advised  him  to  leave  the  city  as  quickly  as  possible  if  he  wished 
to  escape  arrest.  He  wasn't  slow  in  getting  away. 

"  Nor  did  Turner  confine  himself  to  the  manufacture  of  Lynch 's 
autograph  ;  but  supplied,  on  demand,  those  of  Gwinnett,  Hall,  and 
other  rare  signers." 

Mr.  Dreer,  of  Philadelphia,  has  preserved  two  of  these  spurious 
Lynch  productions  :  so  regarded  by  Mr.  Gratz.  One  of  them  was 
purchased  from  the  widow  of  the  late  John  M.  Siegfried,  of  Easton, 
Penn.,  a  prominent  autograph  collector  in  his  day,  and  the  other  at  the 
sale  of  his  literary  effects.  Both  are  dated  in  Philadelphia,  one  July 
23d,  1776,  referring  to  "the  sudden  decease  of  my  father,"  when,  in 
point  of  fact,  the  younger  Lynch  did  not  attach  his  signature  to  the 
engrossed  copy  of  the  Declaration  until  nine  days  afterwards,  and  then 
appended  "Junr."  to  his  name,  showing  quite  conclusively  that  his 
father  was  living  at  the  date  of  this  pretended  letter;  and  Thomas 
Lynch,  Sr.,  did  not  die,  as  Sanderson  and  others  inform  us,  till  some 
time  in  the  subsequent  autumn,  at  Annapolis,  on  his  way  home,  ac 
companied  by  his  filial  son. 

In  the  four  undoubted  signatures  extant  written  by  the  younger 
Lynch  after  his  father's  death,  that  appended  to  the  full  letter  in  Dr. 
Emmet's  collection,  and  those  affixed  to  the  three  land  documents 
in  the  respective  collections  of  the  late  Col.  Myers,  Hon.  J.  B. 
Thacher,  and  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  he  invariably  dis 
carded  the  "Junr. " 

Had  the  elder  Lynch  been  dead  at  the  time,  as  is  asserted  in  this 
pretended  letter  of  July  23d,  1776,  there  would  have  been  no  occasion 
for  the  suffix  "Junr."  to  his  son's  name  on  the  Declaration,  on  the  2d 
of  August  thereafter. 

The  other  Lynch  letter  from  the  Siegfried  collection,  dated  July  roth, 
1776,  which  Mr.  Gratz  pronounces  also  as  one  of  Turner's  fabrications, 
and  a  comparison  of  the  two  surely  point  to  the  same  paternity, 
simply  purports  to  be  a  recommendation  of  a  Philadelphian  to  a 
Charleston  friend,  and  beneath  Lynch's  name,  signed  as  in  the  other 
instance  "T.  Lynch,  Junr.,"  is  that  of  Arthur  Middleton  ;  the  latter 


22  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

a  poor  counterfeit,  obtained  by  a  rude  tracing  apparently  over  the  fac 
simile  of  his  signature  in  Sanderson's  Lives  of  the  Signers  ;  the  size  of 
the  tracing  is  so  singularly  exact  as  to  prove  its  origin,  as  both  Dr. 
Emmet  and  Mr.  Stauffer,  as  well  as  the  writer  can  testify. 

The  internal  evidence  alone  in  the  pretended  Lynch  letter  of  July 
23d,  1776,  brands  it  as  an  imposture  and  a  cheat,  while  that  of  July 
loth  of  the  same  year,  and  confessedly  in  the  same  hand-writing,  must 
necessarily  partake  of  the  same  unreliable  origin  and  character  as  the 
other. 

A  writer  in  a  recent  Washington  city  paper,  in  an  interesting  account 
of  the  autograph  collection  of  Mr.  Henry  A.  Willard,  of  that  city,  thus 
refers  to  his  Lynch  letter  and  signature  :  "Mr.  Willard  has  a  Lynch 
signature,  and  he  has  also  what  he  believes  to  be  a  Lynch  letter.  It 
was  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  Mr.  Simon  Gratz,  of  Philadelphia, 
a  well-known  collector,  who  wrote  Mr.  Willard  that  he  believed  it 
was  a  forgery.  He  said  that  he  recognized  it  as  one  of  the  forgeries  of 
a  man  by  the  name  of  James  W.  Turner,  who,  Mr.  Gratz  states, 
flourished  in  this  city  [Washington]  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  and 
sent  out  a  number  of  counterfeit  Lynch  letters. 

"Mr.  Willard,  however,  believes  in  the  genuineness  of  the  letter. 
He  obtained  it  from  Mr.  Fred.  B.  McGuire  of  this  city  [Washington], 
who  found  it  among  the  Madison  papers,  in  the  possession  of  his 
father,  the  late  James  C.  McGuire,  who  was  the  executor  of  the  estate 
of  Mrs.  Madison.  'It  had  lain  among  those  papers  undisturbed,' 
says  Mr.  McGuire,  '  for  the  past  thirty  years,  since  the  settlement  of 
the  estate.'  Mr.  Willard  thinks  it  is  hardly  possible  that  a  forged 
letter  would  be  found  in  such  a  collection." 

And  yet  the  facts  are  decidedly  against  its  being  a  genuine  Lynch 
letter.  Aside  from  its  having  every  appearance  of  being  one  of 
Turner's  productions,  it  presents  internal  evidence  that  it  was  not 
written  by  the  person,  nor  at  the  time  it  purports  to  have  been  ;  nor 
could  it  have  been  addressed  to  Gen.  Moultrie  as  stated  upon  its  face. 
The  letter  reads  as  follows  : 

"  PARISH  ST.  LUKE'S,  Jan'y  -2d,  1775. 
"  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  I   have   ordered   a   squad  of  ten  men  under  command  of  S'g't 
McDowell  to  seize  provisions  at  Bache's  Mills. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  2$ 

"We  captured  yesterday,  on  its  way  to  the  interior  of  the  Province,  a 
train  loaded  with  flour  and  salt  beef.  I  have  ordered  it  to  be  sent  to 
Charleston  under  guard. 

"  My  men  are  all  well  and  in  good  spirits. 

"  I  am  very  respectfully 

"  Your  humble  serv't, 

"T.  LYNCH  JR. 

"  Capt.  S.  C.  R'g't. 

"GEN.    MOULTRIE,    CHARLESTON, 

per  SERG'T  DRAKE." 

Brief  as  is  this  apparently  plausible  letter,  when  examined  in  the 
light  of  facts  and  history,  several  glaring  errors  are  disclosed,  any  one 
of  which  would  sufficiently  brand  it  as  the  work  of  an  impostor,  and  a 
bungling  one  at  that. 

1.  There  never  has  been  any  such  parish  as  St.  Luke's  anywhere 
in  the  Charleston   region,    either  in  the  revolutionary  period   or  in 
more  modern  times. 

2.  At  the  date  of  this  letter,  Lynch  was  no  captain,  nor  was  he  till 
nearly  six  months  thereafter. 

3.  All  evidence  is  wanting  of  any  such  locality  as  Bache's  Mills  ; 
and  certain  it  is  that,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1775,  there  was  no  seizing 
of  provisions,  flour  nor  salt  beef,  in  South  Carolina.     It  was  not  till 
some  time  in  June,  after  the  reception  of  the  news  of  the  conflicts  at 
Concord  and  Lexington,  and  perhaps  at  Bunker  Hill  as  well,  that  the 
militia  of  South  Carolina  were  organized  and  put  in  motion. 

4.  Appended  to  Lynch's  signature  we  find  "Jr."  thus  abbreviated, 
when  he  almost  invariably  wrote  it  "  Junr. " 

5.  His  rank  and  military  organization  are   imperfectly  given,   as 
"Capt.   S.  C.  R'g't" — conveying   the   idea  that  there  was  only  one 
South  Carolina  regiment  in  service,  whereas  there  were  several,  after 
their  organization  in  June,  1775,  and  Lynch  was  really  a  Captain  in 
Col.  Gadsden's  first  South  Carolina  regiment,  and  would  not  have  been 
likely  to  have  failed  to  name  the  regiment  to  which  he  belonged. 

6.  The  indorsement  on  the  back,  supposably  by  the  receiver,  is  in 
the  same  pale  ink  used  in  preparing  the  letter  itself,  a  very  suspicious 
circumstance. 

7.  This  letter  purports  to  have  been  addressed  to  "Gen.  Moultrie. " 


24  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

It  is  true,  that  in  June,  1775,  not  earlier,  Moultrie  was  appointed 
Colonel  of  the  second  South  Carolina  regiment ;  but  he  was  not  pro 
moted  to  the  rank  of  a  Brigadier-General  till  Sept.  i6th,  1776,  over 
twenty  months  after  the  time  this  pretended  letter  was  addressed  to 
him  as  General.  Besides  Gadsden,  not  Moultrie,  was  Lynch 's  superior 
officer,  to  whom  he  would  properly  have  addressed  his  official  reports. 

It  matters  very  little  how  this  spurious  Lynch  letter  came  among  the 
Madison  papers,  though  perhaps  placed  there  innocently  and  inadvert 
ently  by  the  elder  McGuire,  who  may,  very  likely,  have  been  imposed 
on  by  some  one  ;  or  it  may  have  become  mixed  up  with  these  manu 
scripts  in  some  other  way  not  now  explainable. 

Gen.  Moultrie,  it  is  understood,  belonged  in  early  days  to  the 
Federal  party,  and  Madison  to  the  Jeffersonian  or  Democratic  party, 
and  it  is  quite  improbable  that  they  had  any  intimate  or  personal  rela 
tions  ;  nor  could  Madison's  papers  be  presumably  supposed  to  have 
been  the  receptacle  of  revolutionary  documents,  in  which  he  could  have 
had  no  interest  whatever  other  than  in  those  addressed  directly  to  him 
self;  and  in  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution,  Madison  was  scarcely 
known  outside  of  his  own  neighborhood  and  county. 

The  single  signature  of  Lynch  in  Mr.  Willard's  collection,  which  a 
good  expert  who  has  examined  it  pronounces  as  unmistakably  one  of 
Turner's  wares,  has  an  ear-mark  which  plainly  indicates  its  origin.  It 
has  been  shown  that  Mr.  Dreer's  bogus  Lynch  letter,  purporting  to 
have  been  written  July  23d,  1776,  bears  internal  evidence  proving  its 
historic  falsity.  In  this  same  letter  the  latter  stroke  of  the  letter  h  in 
Lynch's  name  runs  down  considerably  below  the  other  letters  in  the 
signature,  and  in  this  particular  is  very  singular,  and  contrary  to  the 
signer's  mode  of  making  the  terminating  h  in  writing  his  name.  The 
very  same  peculiarity  occurs  in  this  Lynch  signature  of  Mr.  Willard, 
and  as  the  Dreer  letter  with  this  singularity  has  been  proven  to  be 
fraudulent,  so  the  Willard  signature  possessing  precisely  the  same  pecul 
iar  formation  of  the  letter  h  determines  beyond  a  question  that  both 
were  the  production  of  the  same  prolific  counterfeiter. 

Dr.  Fogg,  of  Boston,  has  what  both  Dr.  Emmet  and  Mr.  Stauffer 
agree  with  me  in  regarding  as  a  Lynch  counterfeit.  Some  years  ago 
Dr.  Fogg  purchased  a  large  parcel  of  Colonial  papers,  among  them 
quite  a  number  of  autographs  of  members  of  the  old  Congress.  This 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  2$ 

document  signed  Thomas  Lynch  and  A.  Rutledge  was  of  the  number. 
It  is  an  order  on  John  Calvert,  who  was  probably  a  resident  of  Mary 
land.  Dr.  Fogg  at  first  supposed  it  was  an  autograph  of  the  elder 
Lynch,  until  subsequently  observing  that  the  date — more  than  a  year 
after  his  death — disproved  this  supposition.  This  document,  dated 
Feb.  1 4th,  1778,  is  apparently  a  genuine  order  signed  originally  by  A. 
Rutledge  alone,  and  both  Dr.  Emmet  and  Mr.  Stauffer  judge  from  its 
appearance  that  it  came  from  the  collection  of  the  late  Robert  Gilmor, 
of  Baltimore,  from  which  source  each  of  these  gentlemen  has  a  con 
siderable  number  of  specimens.  Some  one,  apparently  Turner,  pre 
fixed  the  name  of  Lynch  on  the  same  line  with  Rutledge's,  as  there 
was  not  space  for  it  below,  in  such  a  way  as  to  convey  the  idea  that 
Lynch  signed  it  at  the  same  time  with  Rutledge.  This  Lynch  signa 
ture  is  in  much  paler  ink  than  Rutledge's,  and  paler  generally  than  the 
rest  of  the  document.  The  T  in  Thomas,  as  well  as  other  letters,  has 
a  striking  resemblance  to  Turner's  other  Lynch  productions. 

Comparing  all  these  spurious  Lynch  fabrications  with  Dr.  Emmet's 
genuine  letter  of  the  signer,  with  the  aid  of  Dr.  Emmet  and  Mr.  Stauf 
fer,  it  was  apparent,  that  while  Turner  had  to  some  extent  evidently 
studied,  or  attempted  to  study,  the  fac-simile  of  Dr.  Emmet's  Lynch 
letter  as  given  in  Brotherhead's  work,  yet  this  reproduction  is  not  a 
good  copy — too  coarse  in  the  engraving  ;  yet  it  was  evident  that  the 
counterfeits  were  penned  in  a  much  ruder  manner  than  Lynch  ordina 
rily  wrote — always,  in  fact,  save  when  he  signed  the  land  documents 
extant  with  trembling  hand  when  in  failing  health.  The  two  figures 
7,  in  the  year,  in  Dr.  Emmet's  letter,  and  the  mode  of  writing  "Sir," 
are  strikingly  different  from  those  in  the  Turner  counterfeits.  In  all 
three  of  these  Turner  letter  forgeries,  the  two  in  Mr.  Dreer's  possession 
and  that  of  Mr.  Willard,  Charleston  is  invariably  written  as  in  mod 
ern  times  ;  whereas,  in  Dr.  Emmet's  Lynch  letter  to  Gen.  Washing 
ton,  Lynch  writes  it  Charles  Town,  as  was  the  uniform  custom  at 
that  day,  whether  in  letters  or  printed  books,  legislative  journals  or 
newspapers;  and  it  was  not  till  a  considerable  period  after  the  Revo 
lution  that  the  name  was  abbreviated  as  we  now  have  it.  The  word 
obedient,  which  is  written  in  full  in  the  genuine  Emmet  letter,  is 
abbreviated  in  the  two  Dreer  letters  into  "ob'd't"  and  "ob't." 

Besides,   in  all  six  of  these  Turner  frauds,   the  letters  composing 

3 


26  AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS. 

Lynch's  name — excepting  T  in  Thomas — are  invariably  run  together 
after  the  T  in  Thomas  by  one  stroke  of  the  pen  in  each  portion  of  the 
Christian  and  surname,  which  was  not  usual  with  the  signer,  especially 
in  his  maturer  years.  Three  of  these  counterfeits  have  "T.  Lynch, 
Junr,"  appended  to  them;  one,  "  T.  Lynch  Jun.,"  and  the  Fogg 
document  and  single  signature  of  Mr.  Willard  are  in  full,  Thomas 
Lynch,  without  the  Jun.  in  any  form.  On  the  Declaration,  as  fac 
similes  show,  it  *  is  L-yn-ch,  and  so  in  Dr.  Emmet's  letter ;  while  Mr. 
Gratz  writes  that,  on  carefully  inspecting  the  Lynch  signature  to  the 
signer's  receipt  in  the  collection  of  the  Penn.  Historical  Society,  he 
finds  the  Christian  name  Thomas  written  thus  disconnectedly — 
T-h-om-as,  and  the  surname,  L-y-n-ch.  His  early  boy  signatures, 
written  while  at  Eton  College,  and  which  form  the  cut  signatures 
extant  clipped  from  his  books  and  Latin  translations,  in  some  instances 
show  possibly  his  name  run  together,  though  generally  the  letters  form 
ing  the  Lynch  signature  are  more  or  less  disjointed,  as  L-y— n-ch,  or 
L-yn-ch.  The  J  in  junior  is  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  word,  while 
Turner  in  his  fabrications  writes  Junr.,  running  all  the  letters  together, 
once  writing  it  only  "Jun.,"  and  once  "Jr."  In  none  of  the  genuine 
Lynch  signatures  extant  do  we  find  "Jun.,"  and  one  only  where  he 
wrote  it  "Jr." 

Fred.  M.  Steele,  Esq.,  of  Chicago,  has  one  of  these  spurious  Lynch 
letters,  purporting  to  have  been  written  Nov.  i6th,  1775,  addressed  to 
Col.  Gadsden,  regretting  that  his  feeble  condition  prevented  his  join 
ing  his  regiment  at  that  time.  We  have  inspected  this  letter,  as  have 
others  familiar  with  Lynch's  real  signature,  and  all  unhesitatingly  pro 
nounce  it  a  barefaced  forgery.  Mr.  Steele  picked  it  up  in  Washington 
several  years  ago.  An  able  expert  says  truthfully  of  it,  that  "it  is 
written  on  modern  blue  sized  paper,  such  as  was  not  made  until  from 

*  On  May  26th,  1824,  Congress  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to  distribute 
certain  fac-simile  copies  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  engraved  by  Wm. 
J.  Stone,  of  Washington,  from  the  original  then  in  the  State  Department  ;  and, 
on  the  3Oih  of  June  following,  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  then  Secretary  of  State, 
certified  to  these  Declaration  copies.  One  of  them,  in  an  excellent  state  of 
preservation,  with  Mr.  Adams'  well-known  autographic  attestation,  is  in  the  rich 
antiquarian  collection  of  Gordon  L.  Ford,  of  Brooklyn,  and  there  the  signature  of 
Mr.  Lynch  appears,  as  Mr.  Ford  unites  with  me  in  stating — T-h-om-as  L-yn-ch 
Junr. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  2J 

fifty  to  seventy-five  years  after  Lynch's  death."  The  whole  letter  is 
very  clumsily  produced — written  in  two  kinds  of  ink,  and  Col.  Gads- 
den's  name  is  spelled  "Gadsen,"  a  mistake  that  the  Signer  would 
never  have  made.  While  it  purports  to  have  been  written  at  Charles 
ton,  yet  the  word  Philadelphia  is  inserted  directly  under  Charleston. 
It  is  a  miserable  sham. 

Neither  Mr.  Dreer,  Dr.  Fogg,  nor  Mr.  Steele  make  any  pretense  to 
the  genuineness  of  these  Turner  fabrications ;  nor  does  Mr.  Willard 
of  his  Lynch  signature  ;  and  it  is  merely  as  a  warning  to  others,  less 
experienced,  that  these  several  deceptions  have  been  so  fully  explained 
and  exposed.  What  has  become  of  Turner,  or  his  alias,  is  not  known 
— he  is  probably  beyond  the  reach  of  temptation  to  counterfeit  or 
impose  spurious  autographs  on  the  unwary  and  unsuspecting. 

The  successful  forgeries  of  letters  of  Washington,  Franklin,  Lord 
Nelson,  and  others,  by  Robert  Spring,  with  several  aliases,  of  Phila 
delphia,  form  a  curious  chapter  in  the  history  of  American  autographs 
and  collections.  He  was  born  in  England  in  1813,  but  of  his  English 
career  nothing  is  known.  He  settled  in  Philadelphia  as  early  as  1858, 
dealing  in  a  small  way  in  prints,  autographs,  and  books  relating  to 
the  history  of  America.  He  appears  to  have  possessed  both  a  facile 
conscience  and  pen.  On  one  occasion,  Mr.  Stauffer  relates,  Spring 
ingratiated  himself,  on  some  plea  of  historical  research,  into  the  family 
of  a  descendant*  of  Judge  Chase  at  Annapolis,  one  of  the  Maryland 
Signers,  and  managed  to  appropriate  a  goodly  number  of  genuine 
autographs,  from  which  he  must  have  realized  some  two  or  three 
hundred  dollars. 

Unable  to  meet  the  demands  on  him  for  authentic  autographs,  he 
began  to  fabricate  and  sell  spurious  productions.  Expert  in  the  use 
of  the  pen,  he  soon  acquired  a  rare  facility  in  imitating  the  penman 
ship  of  Washington,  Franklin,  Lord  Nelson,  and  others.  At  this 
period  the  temptation  was  great,  as  a  Washington  or  Franklin  letter 
would  command  fully  $20.  "  He  had,"  writes  Mr.  Gratz,  "so  famil 
iarized  himself  with  all  the  characteristics  of  the  handwriting  of  Wash- 

*  Presumably  Hester  Ann  Chase  Ridout,  who  died  in  Dec.,  1888,  leaving  the 
commodious  old  homestead,  erected  by  Judge  Chase  in  1770,  as  a  home  for  desti 
tute,  aged,  and  infirm  women. 


28  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

ington  and  Franklin,  that  he  could  write  a  letter  in  a  similar  hand  of 
either,  without  having  an  original  letter,  or  any  other  guide,  before  his 
eyes." 

These  counterfeits  were  written  on  paper  apparently  of  the  period, 
with  ink  so  prepared  as  to  impart  the  appearance  of  age  to  the  writing, 
well  calculated  to  deceive  those  not  well  posted  in  genuine  autographs. 
Mr.  Gratz,  in  his  notice  of  Spring  in  Appletons'  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Biography,  states  that  this  adroit  forger  was  frequently  arrested  by  the 
civil  authorities  for  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses,  but  always 
escaped  punishment  by  freely  confessing  his  guilt,  and  expressing  con 
trition  for  the  offense. 

His  counterfeits  of  Franklin  and  Lord  Nelson  found  ready  sale  in 
Canada  and  England.  He  resorted  to  various  expedients  to  market 
his  productions  ;  at  one  time,  to  cloak  his  operations,  he  assumed  to 
be  a  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Confederate  leader,  Gen.  Thomas  J. 
Jackson,  and  carried  on  correspondence  in  her  name.  He  never 
attempted,  Mr.  Gratz  states,  to  fabricate  the  signature  of  Lynch — he 
could,  in  his  day,  find  more  ready  purchasers  and  better  prices  for  such 
as  Washington  and  Franklin.  "  He  told  me,"  adds  Mr.  Gratz,  "  the 
entire  story  of  his  forgeries,  and  showed  me  specimens  of  them  all." 

He  died  in  poverty  in  a  Philadelphia  hospital,  of  which  he  was  an 
inmate,  Dec.  I4th,  1876,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  Some  of  Spring's 
literary  forgeries,  as  well  as  those  of  the  persevering  Turner,  are  still 
afloat ;  every  now  and  then  some  of  them  turn  up  in  the  auction  sales 
of  autograph  collections,  and  should  be  carefully  avoided.  For  a 
further  account  of  Spring  and  his  fabrications,  see  Appletons'  Cyclopcedia 
of  American  Biography,  and  Appendix  No.  i  of  this  essay. 

As  the  rare  specimens  of  the  Signers  become  still  more  rare,  and 
consequently  of  enhanced  value,  the  temptation  to  counterfeit  will  be 
greater,  requiring  increased  vigilance  for  their  detection. 

"When  collectors  of  so  much  experience,"  continues  Mr.  Gratz, 
"as  the  late  Dr.  Sprague  and  Mr.  Cist,  placed  autographs  of  the  wrong 
men  in  their  collections,  as  Dr.  Sprague  did  with  several  of  his  Generals 
of  the  Revolution,  and  as  Mr.  Cist  did  in  the  case  of  George  Taylor, 
the  Signer,  it  is  not  surprising  that  others,  through  lack  of  knowledge 
or  the  absence  of  a  skilled  adviser,  should  accept  of  autographs  of  the 
wrong  person."  "At  the  recent  Cist  sale,"  writes  Mr.  Burns,  "his 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  29 

collection  of  Signers,  always  counted  among  complete  sets,  disclosed 
the  fact  that  the  autographs  of  both  Hart  and  Taylor  were  not  of  the 
right  men." 

One  of  the  most  discriminating  autograph  collectors  in  this  country 
writes:  "There  are  many  collections  that  would  be  considerably 
decreased  in  size,  if  an  expert  were  to  examine  them,  and  cast  out  all 
the  letters  or  documents  that  are  not  genuine,  or  not  written  by  the 
persons  whose  handwriting  they  are  intended  to  represent." 

The  danger  of  taking  the  son  for  the  father,  or  vice  versa,  or  the 
wrong  man  of  the  same  name,  has  been  very  properly  suggested  by 
Mr.  Burns,  as  well  as  by  the  autograph  collector  just  quoted.  There 
were  two  Lynches,  father  and  son,  so  of  Hart,  Carroll,  and  Heyward. 
There  were  two  Richard  Stocktons,  father  and  son,  both  eminent 
lawyers  and  statesmen  of  New  Jersey — the  Signer  dying  in  1781,  while 
the  son  outlived  the  father  forty-seven  years,  and  whose  autograph,  by 
those  not  familiar  with  such  things,  and  unobserving  of  dates,  has 
been  mistaken  for  the  Signer's. 

There  were  two  Benjamin  Harrisons,  near  relatives,  and  both  promi 
nent  in  public  affairs  in  Virginia  during  the  Revolution — one,  the 
Signer,  was  contradistinguished  from  the  other  as  Benjamin  Harrison 
of  Berkley ;  while  his  kinsman  was  known  as  Benjamin  Harrison  of 
Brandon — Berkley  and  Brandon  being  the  names  of  their  respective 
seats  on  the  banks  of  the  James  River.  Virginia  also  furnished  two 
Thomas  Nelsons — Thomas  Nelson,  Sr.,  familiarly  known  as  Secretary 
Nelson,  who  resided  in  York  town,  was  the  unsuccessful  competitor  of 
Patrick  Henry  for  the  first  term  of  Governor  of  Virginia  under  the 
Constitution  of  1776,  and  when,  shortly  after,  chosen  one  of  the  Privy 
Council,  he  declined  on  account  of  the  infirmities  of  age ;  while  his 
nephew,  Thomas  Nelson,  Jr.,  also  of  York  County,  who  was  the 
Signer,  became  Governor  during  the  life-time  of  his  namesake  uncle. 
The  father  of  Secretary  Nelson,  and  grandfather  of  Gov.  Nelson,  also 
bore  the  Christian  name  of  Thomas. 

It  may  be  added,  that  Josiah  Bartlett,  Robert  Treat  Paine,  Oliver 
Wolcott,  Francis  Lewis,  Lewis  Morris,  George  Ross,  and  others  of  the 
Signers,  had  sons  of  the  same  name.  Col.  James  Smith,  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  afterwards  of  Kentucky,  and  a  James  Smith,  of  Carlisle, 
Pa.,  have  sometimes  been  mistaken  for  their  namesake,  the  Signer. 


3O  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

George  Taylor,  also  of  Pennsylvania,  had  a  counterpart  of  the  same 
name.  There  was  a  second  John  Morton,  a  Philadelphia  Quaker 
merchant,  sometimes  mistaken  for  the  Signer.  "I  have,"  writes  Mr. 
Stauffer,  "a  series  of  about  thirty-five  letters  that  I  call  my  set  of 
wrong  men,  who  had  the  same  name,  and  flourished  at  the  same  period 
as  the  genuine  ones."  These  are  points  that  require  the  care  and 
knowledge  of  an  expert,  in  order  to  prevent  errors,  which  experienced 
collectors  are  constantly  on  the  alert  to  detect,  and  the  mere  suspicion 
of  the  existence  of  one  of  which,  would  injure  the  reputation  of  a  set 
amongst  connoisseurs.* 

The  progress  of  forming  sets  of  the  Signers  has  been  slow  from  the 
start.  It  took  from  1815  to  well  on  toward  1834,  for  Dr.  Sprague  to 
complete  his  first  collection;  and  till  1837  before  Dr.  Raffles  sucj 
ceeded  in  procuring  the  last  of  his  fifty-six  autographs.  In  1845,  we 
judge,  Mr.  Gilmor  completed  his  set ;  and  Mr.  Cist  and  others  prob 
ably  not  very  long  thereafter. 

In  August,  1870,  Mr.  Burns  enumerated  fourteen  sets  of  the 
Signers,  namely  :  Those  of  Dr.  Raffles,  Dr.  Sprague's  two  sets,  New 
York  State  Library,  A.  W.  Griswold,  Dr.  Emmet,  Col.  Myers,  Mr. 
Chamberlain,  Mrs.  Allen,  Prof.  Leffingwell,  Mr.  Dreer,  Mr.  Davis, 
Mr.  Mickley,  and  Mr.  Cist.  The  Griswold  set,  now  Mr.  Drexel's,  was 
then  incomplete,  and  the  Mickley  and  Cist  collections  have  since  been 
dispersed,  while  that  of  Mr.  Davis  has  been  added  to  the  collections 
of  Mr.  Charles  Roberts.  In  November,  1870,  Mr.  Burns  announced 
two  others  as  complete — Dr.  J.  I.  Cohen's,  and  Dr.  Sprague's  third 
set, — the  latter  of  which  passed  into  the  possession  of  his  son,  E.  E. 
Sprague,  and  since  transferred  to  Hon.  J.  B.  Thacher,  of  Albany. 

Mr.  Sabin,  in  January,  1871,  placed  the  number  of  sets  then  in 
existence  at  seventeen,  without  naming  them — "  some  of  which, "  he 
added,  "are  very  weak  in  specimens,  and  perfect  in  completeness 
only."  It  is  quite  certain  that  there  were  not  so  many  complete  sets 
at  that  day ;  some  that  were  so  reckoned,  doubtless,  lacked  one  or 
more  specimens,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Drexel  set ;  and  some,  then  in 
complete,  have  since  been  dispersed,  going  to  improve  and  complete 
others.  As  late  as  1876,  Mr.  Brotherhead  gave  a  list  of  seventeen 

*  Burns'  American  Antiquarian,  Aug.,  1870. 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS,  31 

persons  in  this  country  engaged  in  making  collections  of  autographs  of 
the  Signers  ;  of  these,  however,  four  never  completed  their  sets,  and 
two  were  afterward  dispersed. 

When  the  first  edition  of  Brotherhead's  Book  of  the  Signers  appeared, 
in  1 86 1,  reference  was  made,  in  a  notice  of  the  work  in  the  Philadel 
phia  Press,  to  Queen  Victoria's  collection,  "which  we  have  seen  in 
the  private  library  at  Windsor  Castle,"  etc.  The  well-known  author, 
Theodore  Martin,  made  inquiries  regarding  this  pretended  set,  and 
wrote  to  Mr.  Brotherhead,  June  21,  1875  :  "In  his  last  letter  to  me, 
Gen.  Ponsonby,  Her  Majesty's  Private  Secretary,  says  :  '  When  Mr. 
Brotherhead  sent  a  volume  through  the  Foreign  Secretary,  in  1861,  he 
said  :  "Your  Majesty  already  possesses  nearly  a  complete  set  of  the 
original  autographs  of  the  Signers. "  I  can  find  no  trace  of  this  set  of 
autographs,  nor  can  I  ascertain  that  the  Queen  possessed  any  of  their 
autographs  ;  "  and  in  a  letter  a  month  later,  to  Mr.  Brotherhead,  Gen. 
Ponsonby  further  says:  "The  Librarian  assures  me  that  no  such  col 
lection  is  in  the  library,  and  his  further  search  has  confirmed  him  in 
his  opinion,  that  the  Queen  never  did  possess  these  autographs.  He 
also  inquired  at  the  British  Museum,  but  no  trace  of  any  such  collec 
tion  can  be  found."  Dr.  Emmet  writes  :  "Queen  Victoria  has  no 
set ;  for  I  tried  to  see  it  at  Windsor,  and  was  told  positively  that  she 
never  had  one."  This  should  be  regarded  as  conclusive. 

In  enumerating  the  collections  of  the  Signers  extant,  Mr.  Burns,  in 
the  August  number,  1870,  of  his  Antiquarian,  referred  to  the  Queen's 
supposed  set,  adding  :  "  Of  this,  we  know  nothing  further  than  its  ex 
istence.  Can  any  one  tell  us  whether  it  is  an  original  collection,  or 
that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Raffles  ?  "  As  it  was  well  known  that  the  Queen 
had  secured  no  set  of  the  Signers  in  this  country,  it  was  very  naturally 
surmised  that  she  had  obtained  Dr.  Raffles'  collection  ;  but  it  trans 
pires  that  the  Doctor's  set  has  never  passed  out  of  the  possession  of  his 
family. 

During  our  civil  war,  a  complete  collection  of  the  Signers,  gathered 
by  the  late  Prof.  Robert  W.  Gibbes,  of  Columbia,  S.  C.,  was  destroyed 
at  the  burning  of  that  city — of  its  composition,  we  have  no  knowledge  ; 
of  course,  to  have  been  complete,  it  must  have  included  a  Lynch  sig 
nature.  During  all  these  past  years,  three  full  sets  have  been  dispersed 
—Mr.  Mickley's,  one  of  Dr.  Sprague's,  and  Mr,  Cist's;  and  eight  sets 


32  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

transferred  entire  to  other  collectors,  namely  :  "  Mr.  Gilmor's  to  Mr. 
Dreer,  Judge  Chamberlain's  full  set  to  Prof.  Leffingwell,  Mr.  Tefft's 
two  sets  to  New  York  State  Library  and  to  Mr.  Drexel,  Dr.  Sprague's 
two  sets  to  Mr.  Gratz  and  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  E.  E. 
Sprague's  to  Hon.  J.  B.  Thacher,  and  that  of  the  late  R.  C.  Davis  to 
Mr.  Charles  Roberts ;  and  eleven  sets,  meanwhile,  have  been  com 
pleted — three  by  Dr.  Emmet,  two  by  Col.  Jones,  and  one  each  by  Mr. 
Gratz,  Dr.  Fogg,  Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  and  Mr.  John  M. 
Hale.  The  sets  of  Messrs.  Drexel  and  Myers,  and  Mrs.  Ely,  deceased, 
pass  to  their  families  or  descendants. 

It  is  very  doubtful  if  any  additional  sets  can  ever  be  completed,  save 
by  utilizing  Col.  Jones'  two  duplicates  ;  or  by  the  transfer  or  breaking 
up  of  sets  already  formed  ;  though  possibly  some  of  the  incomplete 
sets  extant,  whose  composition  is  not  known,  might,  if  brought  into 
market,  help  out  one  or  two  others.  A  few  of  the  incomplete  collec 
tions  have  Gwinnett,  which  still  lack  the  Lynch  signature. 

It  would  seem  that  the  source  of  supply  of  the  Lynch  signatures  is 
practically  exhausted,  and  perhaps  the  Gwinnett  also.  Dr.  Gilman 
stated,  in  April,  1845,  that  the  Misses  Bowman  informed  him  that  a 
large  trunk  of  the  papers  of  their  uncle,  Thomas  Lynch,  Jr.,  had,  a 
few  years  previously,  been  deposited  for  safety  with  their  kinsman, 
Gen.  James  Hamilton,  and  was  destroyed  by  the  burning  of  his 
residence.  They  added  that  they  had  been  accustomed,  when  they 
went  into  the  country,  to  place  that  trunk,  with  its  precious  contents, 
in  the  bank,  but  had  unfortunately  on  that  occasion  deviated  from 
their  usual  practice.  Other  Southern  signatures,  notably  those  of 
Middleton,  Heyward,  and  Hall,  seemed  almost  as  difficult  of  procure 
ment. 

Of  the  Lynch  signatures,  there  appears  to  be  fifteen  extant  obtained 
by  Dr.  Gilman,  at  Charleston,  and  transmitted  to  Mr.  Tefft — namely, 
three  possessed  by  Dr.  Emmet,  one  each  in  the  collections  made  or 
possessed  by  Gratz,  Dreer,  Leffingwell,  Cohen,  Fogg,  Ely,  Roberts, 
Drexel,  Hale,  Chamberlain,  and  the  Pennsylvania  and  Wisconsin  His 
torical  Societies,  not  counting  the  one  once  possessed  by  the  late  Dr. 
Gibbes,  not  now  in  existence.  The  Lynch  signature  of  Judge  Raffles 
came  from  the  same  source  as  Dr.  Gilman's  ;  and  the  four  obtained  by 
Col.  Jones,  of  Georgia,  one  "T.  Lynch,  Junr.,"  the  other  three  simply 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  33 

"Lynch,"  came  also  from  the  title-pages  of  books  once  of  the  Signers' 
Library.  Thus  we  have  twenty — to  which  add  the  full  Lynch  letter 
in  Dr.  Emmet's  best  set  of  Signers,  and  the  three  Lynch  land  docu 
ments  signed,  in  the  set  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society  and 
those  in  the  Myers'  and  Thacher  collections,  will  make  twenty-two 
altogether  represented  in  the  full  sets  extant  of  the  Signers  recognized 
and  described  in  this  essay,  with  the  two  duplicate  signatures  possessed 
by  Col.  Jones.  Others  there  are,  which  are  not  regarded  as  genuine 
by  our  best  judges. 

Comparing  the  tracings  of  all  three  of  Col.  Jones'  simple  "  Lynch  " 
signatures,  without  a  prefix  or  suffix,  with  Dr.  Emmet's  similar  one, 
which  is  traced  back  to  Dr.  Sprague  and  Mr.  Tefft,  all  four  were  found 
as  nearly  alike  as  possible,  with  a  slight  upturned  curl  at  the  end  of 
the  latter  part  of  the  h,  like  a  single  kink  or  twist  in  a  pig's  tail.  This 
peculiar  characteristic  of  all  four  of  these  specimens  is  very  unlike  the 
two  Turner  counterfeits — one  in  the  letter  of  July  23d,  1776,  in  Mr. 
Dreer's  possession,  the  other  the  Lynch  signature  of  Mr.  Willard,  in 
which  the  last  stroke  in  the  h  ends,  not  with  an  upward  curl,  but  with 
a  slight  downward  dash. 

Dr.  Sprague  became  possessed  of  at  least  two  of  the  three  Lynch 
signatures  appended  to  land  documents — two  on  one  document — these 
were  written  in  a  trembling  or  shaky  hand,  and  with  poor  ink — just  be 
fore  his  fatal  sea  voyage,  when  in  bad  health,  and  hence  the  signatures, 
though  genuine,  are  quite  unlike  that  appended  to  the  Declaration. 
Mr.  Gratz  owned  one  of  these  Lynch  documents,  that  is  now  in  the  set 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  and  before  parting  with  it,  and 
wishing  to  select  the  specimen  he  regarded  as  most  desirable  for  his 
own  collection,  unhesitatingly  preferred  one  of  the  neatly  written  cut 
signatures  of  Lynch  ;  and  he  would  not  to-day  exchange  this  cut  sig 
nature  for  either  of  the  three  Lynch  D.  S.  extant.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  other  collectors  would  act  differently ;  but,  we  apprehend,  most 
lovers  of  autographs  would  heartily  approve  the  choice  Mr.  Gratz 
made. 

The  Gwinnett  autograph  is  rare — no  full  letter  of  his  has  yet  been 
discovered.  Documents  signed,  of  various  kinds,  have  been  preserved, 
so  that  each  of  the  twenty-two  full  sets  of  the  Signers  have  been  sup 
plied,  and  several  of  the  incomplete  sets  have  also  a  specimen. 


34  AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS, 

Only  five  full  Hart  letters  are  known  to  be  extant — two  possessed  by 
Mr.  Gratz,  and  one  each  in  the  collections  of  Mr.  Dreer,  Mrs.  Cohen, 
and  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society.  Dr.  Emmet  states  that  he 
is  under  the  impression  that  no  genuine  letter  or  document  of  Hart  is 
extant,  that  does  not  show  his  lack  of  scholarship,  either  in  spelling, 
misuse  of  capital  letters,  or  want  of  punctuation,  and  that  his  signed 
letters  appear  to  have  been  written  by  some  one  writing  a  very  similar 
hand  to  that  of  the  Signer,  without  betraying  his  deficiencies.  Mr. 
Gratz  confirms  this  opinion,  adding  :  "  Hart  was  a  poor  speller,  using 
capitals  at  his  pleasure,  and  in  utter  disregard  of  rules.  These  errors 
are  numerous  in  both  of  the  letters  I  have  of  his  writing.  I  have  seen 
some  orders  of  the  Assembly  of  New  Jersey  that  were  signed  by  Hart, 
but  written  by  a  clerk,  whose  handwriting  does  bear  some  resemblance 
to  Hart's.  I  can  scarcely  believe  that  he  ever  had  a  private  secretary  ; 
but  when  he  was  Speaker  of  the  Assembly  of  New  Jersey,  and  chair 
man  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  it  is  likely  that  he  utilized  the  services 
of  the  clerk  and  his  assistants.  I  have  one  such  specimen,  and  have 
seen  several  others,  the  bodies  of  which  are  written,  respectively,  by 
different  persons." 

But  two  full  Morton  letters  are  known  to  exist — those  in  the  collec 
tions  of  Dr.  Emmet  and  Mr.  Stauffer,  and  an  unsigned  one  in  the 
Raffles'  collection. 

We  are  aware  of  but  six  full  Middleton  letters — those  in  the  collec 
tions  of  Messrs.  Emmet,  Gratz,  Dreer,  Leffingwell,  Raffles,  and  Etting. 

Eleven  Heyward  autographs,  A.L.S.,  are  in  existence — two  pos 
sessed  by  Dr.  Emmet,  two  by  Mr.  Gratz,  and  one  each  by  the  New 
York  State  Library,  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  and  in  the 
collections  of  Dreer,  Leffingwell,  Cohen,  Ely,  and  Etting. 

Eighteen  full  Hall  letters  are  represented  in  the  collections  described, 
while  Samuel  Adams,  Hopkins,  Lewis  Morris,  Stockton,  Hewes, 
Hooper,  Penn,  and  Rutledge,  though  scarce,  show  a  fair  representation. 

Intimately  connected  with  a  collection  of  autographs  of  the  Signers, 
are  copies  of  the  engraved  portraits,  and  views  of  the  residences  of  the 
writers,  for  their  proper  illustration.  Such  engravings,  judiciously 
selected  and  properly  mounted,  add  vastly  to  the  interest  and  attract 
iveness  of  any  set  of  the  Signers — indeed,  they  are  quite  indispensable. 

Early  as  17^7,  while  our  distinguished  American  painter,  Col.  John 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  35 

Trumbull,  was  yet  in  Europe,  he  seems  to  have  formed  the  design  of 
his  great  national  picture  of  the  Signers — probably  then  painting 
Adams  and  Jefferson,  our  respective  representatives  at  the  courts  of 
Great  Britain  and  France,  and  obtaining  their  suggestions.  In 

1789,  he   painted    portraits  of  such  Signers  as  were    then  in  Con 
gress  ;  or,  as  he  has  recorded  it  in  his  autobiography,  "I  arranged 
carefully  the   composition    for  the    '  Declaration    of  Independence,' 
and  prepared  it  for  receiving  the  portraits  as  I  met  with  the  distin 
guished  men  who  were  present  at  that  illustrious  scene."     Again,  in 

1790,  he  records :   "  In  May,  I  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  I  obtained 
some  portraits  for  my  great  work."     In  September,  after  passing  some 
time  in  the  country,  he  went  to  Boston  and  New  Hampshire  in  quest 
of  heads;  and,  in   1791,  he  says,   "In  February,   I  went  to  Charles 
Town,  South  Carolina,  and  there  obtained  portraits  of  the  Rutledges, 
Pinckneys,   Middletons,   Laurens,   Heyward,  etc.     ...     In  April, 
I  sailed  for  Yorktown     .     .     .     and  then  rode  to  Williamsburg,  and 
obtained  a  drawing  of  Mr.  Wythe  for  the  '  Declaration. '  "     Washing 
ton,   in  a  letter  to  La  Fayette,  November  21,  1791,   spoke  of  "the 
greatness  of  the  design,  and  the  masterly  execution  of  the  work. " 

As  a  few  of  the  members  who  were  present  when  the  Declaration 
was  passed  on  the  4th  of  July,  retired  before  the  engrossed  copy  was 
ready  for  signing,  and  thus  failed  to  attach  their  names  to  the  great 
American  Magna  Charta  ;  while  others,  who  were  not  present,  but 
subsequently  became  members,  affixed  their  signatures  to  the  Declara 
tion,  Col.  Trumbull  was  embarrassed  in  determining  how  to  treat 
these  classes.  He  finally  resolved  to  include  all  the  Signers  of  whom 
he  could  obtain  likenesses,  and  also  those  who  were  present  when  the 
Declaration  was  enacted.  Of  this  latter  class,  however,  he  for  some 
reason,  omitted  John  Alsop*  and  Henry  Wisner,  of  New  York, 

*  The  letter  of  Thomas  McKean,  the  Signer,  to  Mr.  Dallas,  Sept.  26,  1796,  shows 
that  Henry  Wisner  was  present  in  Congress,  July  4th,  1776,  and  voted  for  inde 
pendence.  Wm.  Kelby,  the  able  Assistant  Librarian  of  the  N.  Y.  Historical 
Society,  has  aided  me  in  the  preparation  of  this  note  on  John  Alsop,  and  his 
relation  to  the  Declaration.  He  is  represented  as  one  of  those  who  could  not 
bear  the  thought  of  a  separation  from  the  mother  country,  and,  besides,  the 
instructions  of  the  New  York  delegation  did  not  authorize  them  to  support  so 
decisive  a  measure,  and  he  was  consequently  opposed  to  the  Declaration,  On  the 


36  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Charles  Humphreys  and  Joseph  Galloway,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  John 
Rogers,*  of  Maryland. 

Speaking  of  the  pictures  of  the  Signers,  Col.  Trumbull  says  :  "All 
saw  the  correctness  of  the  portraits.  Many  knew  the  accuracy  of  the 
countenances  recorded."  He  has  introduced  forty-eight  heads,  and 
full-length  portraits,  into  his  grand  representation — five  of  whom  were 
not  Signers,  namely,  George  Clinton,  R.  R.  Livingston,  Thomas 
Wharton,  John  Dickinson,  who  were  in  Congress  when  the  act  was 
passed,  but  not  at  the  signing,  and  Charles  Thomson,  the  Secretary, 
whose  name  attests  the  accuracy  of  the  document,  and  genuine 
ness  of  the  signatures  of  the  Signers.  Of  these  forty-eight  persons 
represented  in  the  picture,  Col.  Trumbull  seems  to  have  faithfully 
painted  thirty-eight  from  life,  copied  nine  from  other  likenesses,  and 
painted  one,  that  of  Harrison,  from  directions  given  him  for  the 
purpose. 

In  a  letter  written  by  Trumbull  to  Gen.  W.  H.  Harrison,  in  Feb- 

adoption  of  the  measure,  and  its  immediate  ratification  by  the  New  York  Provin 
cial  Convention,  Mr.  Alsop  resigned  his  seat  ;  and,  in  a  letter  to  the  Convention, 
he  expressed  surprise  and  indignation  at  the  slight  put  upon  the  New  York  dele 
gation  in  leaving  it  without  instructions  on  this  point,  although  such  instructions 
had  been  repeatedly  sought  for,  and  he  concluded  by  adding  his  disapprobation  as 
to  the  course  of  Congress  in  closing  the  door  against  reconciliation  with  Great 
Britain.  If  further  proof  were  wanting  of  Alsop's  presence  in  Congress,  on  July 
2d  and  4th,  1776,  it  is  to  be  found  inferentially  in  the  fact  that  the  Journals  of 
Congress  show  that  he  was  appointed  on  a  special  committee  as  late  as  June  28th, 
only  a  few  days  preceding  the  vote  on  independence.  Mr.  Alsop,  when  the 
British  took  possession  of  New  York,  retired  with  his  family  to  Middletown, 
Conn.,  where  he  remained  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  died  at  Newtown,  L.  I., 
Nov.  22d,  1794. — See  John  Austin  Stevens'  valuable  paper  on  the  New  York 
Delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  1774-76,  before  the  N.  Y.  Historical 
Society,  May  2d,  1876,  subsequently  given  in  the  Galaxy  magazine  for  August, 
1876;  N.  Y.  Chamber  of  Commerce  Records,  1768-84,  p.  120. 

*  With  reference  to  Rogers,  see  Etting's  Hist,  of  Independence  Hall,  85,  96, 
100,  177.  The  Journals  of  Congress  show  that  Mr.  Rogers  was  appointed  on 
important  committees,  June  $th  and  i8th,  1776.  Lanman's  Hist,  of  Congress,  and 
Drake's  Biographical  Dictionary,  state  that  he  served  in  the  Congress  of  1775  and 
1776,  was  afterwards  Chancellor  of  Maryland,  and  died  at  Annapolis,  in  October, 
1789.  There  can  be  little  doubt  of  his  presence  in  Congress,  July  4th,  1776,  as 
Col.  Etting  asserts. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  37 

ruary,  1818,  he  states:  "Since  I  wrote  you  last,  I  have  inquired  of 
Mr.  Peale,  and  have  received  for  answer  that  he  possesses  no  portrait 
of  your  father  in  his  museum.  My  sole  reliance  must,  therefore,  be 
on  such  description  as  you  and  his  friend,  Col.  Meade,  of  Kentucky, 
can  furnish  me."  As  Col.  Trumbull  seems  to  have  been  faithful, 
painstaking,  and  conscientious,  it  is  but  fair  to  conclude  that  he 
painted  the  Harrison  portrait  from  the  suggestions  of  Gen.  Harrison 
and  Col.  Meade,  and  that  his  drawing  was  submitted  to  them,  and 
met  their  approval.  Mr.  Brotherhead  very  pertinently  asks:  "Is  it 
not  better  that  we  should  have  a  portrait  of  Harrison  under  these 
conditions  than  have  none  at  all  ?  "  We  may  fairly  infer,  as  we  hear 
of  no  similar  cases,  that  Col.  Trumbull  met  with  no  other  obstacles  in 
the  procurement  of  the  forty-eight  portraits  introduced  into  his  great 
picture.  The  fullest  confidence  may  be  reposed  in  the  integrity  of 
Trumbull,  and  the  genuineness  of  his  portraits. 

Of  the  other  thirteen  whose  heads  do  not  appear  in  the  Declaration 
painting,  eight  had  passed  away  before  Col.  Trumbull  commenced 
securing  likenesses  for  this  purpose — Gwinnett,  Morton,  Ross,  Hart, 
Taylor,  Rodney,  Stone,  and  Penn.  Hall  survived  till  1790;  Francis 
Lightfoot  Lee,  and  Braxton,  till  1797;  Thornton  till  1803,  and  Smith 
till  1806.  Why  these  five  survivors  were  not  visited  by  him,  and 
painted,  is  a  matter  of  surprise  and  regret. 

It  was  not  till  early  in  1817  that  Col.  Trumbull  received  from  Con 
gress  a  commission  to  paint  this  and  three  other  historical  pictures  for 
the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  The  painting  of  the  Signers  was  first  com 
pleted  in  October,  1818,  when  it  was  placed  on  public  exhibition. 
Durand  was  employed  in  1820  to  engrave  it,  but  it  was  not  published 
until  1822,  and  is  the  original  of  the  millions  of  copies  of  all  sizes 
which  have  since  been  in  circulation. 

In  1849,  William  Hunt  prepared  the  Biographical  Panorama,  printed 
by  Joel  Munsell,  of  Albany,  and  illustrated  with  woodcuts,  in  which, 
among  others,  were  included  the  thirteen  deficiencies  of  Trumbull's 
picture.  In  1870,  Mr.  Burijs  commenced  the  publication  of  portraits 
of  twenty-two  of  the  Signers  from  drawings  in  the  collection  of  Dr. 
Emmet.  They  were  copied  and  engraved  or  etched  by  H.  B.  Hall, 
and  more  especially  designed  for  purposes  of  illustration.  The  twenty- 
two  were  made  up  of  Bartlett,  Thornton,  Whipple,  Ellery,  Hopkins, 


38  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.       . 

Williams,  Lewis  Morris,  Clark,  Hart,  Stockton,  Smith,  Taylor,  Rod 
ney,  Braxton,  Harrison,  F.  L.  Lee,  Nelson,  Hooper,  Penn,  Gwinnett, 
Hall,  and  Walton  ;  and  Mr.  Burns  added  Rutledge  from  Sanderson's 
Lives  of  the  Signers — thus  supplying,  in  the  number,  ten  of  the 
thirteen  deficiencies  of  Trumbull,  leaving  only  Ross,  Stone,  and 
Morton  unrepresented.  Fifty  sets  of  these  Burns  engravings  were 
issued,  when  the  plates  were  destroyed. 

Inquiries  having  been  made  concerning  the  origin  of  some  of  these 
twenty-two  Burns  engravings,  notably  that  of  Hart,  prompted  Dr. 
Emmet  to  write  a  statement  of  the  matter,  in  October,  1872,  to  a 
friend,  which  has  never  been  published  ;  and  which  he  has  recently 
amended  and  enlarged  at  the  instance  of  the  writer  of  this  paper.  As 
thus  corrected,  it  is  well  worthy  of  a  place  in  this  connection  : 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  writes  Dr.  Emmet,  "for  giving 
me  the  opportunity  of  explanation  in  regard  to  the  origin  of  these  Burns 
engravings,  as  I  have  been  placed  in  a  somewhat  false  position  with 
reference  to  them.  For  many  years  I  have  been  illustrating  Sander 
son's  Lives  of  the  Signers,  having  had  the  whole  book  inlaid  to  folio  ; 
and,  with  the  illustrations,  it  has  now  reached  some  twenty  volumes. 
As  but  a  small  portion  of  the  portraits  of  these  gentlemen  had  ever 
been  engraved,  I  had  beautiful  water-colored  drawings  made  by  H.  B. 
Hall  of  all  the  Signers  given  in  Trumbull's  large  picture  at  the  Capitol 
at  Washington,  which  contained  all  but  thirteen  of  the  fifty-six.  They 
were  copied  from  the  original  painting. 

"There  is  a  portrait  given  of  Stockton,  and  also  of  Williams,  in  this 
Trumbull  picture ;  but  the  Stockton  engraved  for  Burns  was  copied 
from  a  likeness  sent  me  by  his  grand-daughter,  Mrs.  George  T. 
Olmsted,  of  Princeton — the  same  picture  that  is  in  the  Princeton 
College  Gallery.  The  head  of  this  portrait  had  been  cut  out  by  an 
English  officer  during  the  Revolution,  and  it  was  thought  for  a  long 
time  to  have  been  lost,  but  it  was  at  length  found  behind  the  picture 
where  it  had  fallen  when  decapitated  ;  but  fortunately  it  was  not  so 
injured  but  that  it  could  be,  and  was,  restored. 

"The  Ellery,  in  the  American  Biographical  Panorama,  printed  by 
Joel  Munsell,  in  1849,  for  Wm.  Hunt,  I  found  was  the  same  as  given 
in  an  unfinished  plate,  about  the  size  of  Trumbull's,  from  which  I 
have  the  only  impression  I  ever  saw — the  plate  itself,  in  a  damaged 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  39 

condition,  is,  I  am  told,  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.     Of 
its  history,  I  know  nothing. 

"The  Thornton  likeness  in  the  Burns  set  was  recognized  by  rela 
tives  as  having  been  copied  from  a  miniature  then  lost.  A  Mr. 
Thornton,  then  an  officer  of  the  navy,  wrote  to  Col.  T.  B.  Myers,  of 
New  York,  at  the  time  of  publication,  for  information  touching  the 
lost  original,  stating  that  the  Burns  engraving  bore  a  remarkable  resem 
blance  to  different  members  of  the  Thornton  family.  I  afterwards  had 
a  correspondence  with  a  descendant,  a  lawyer  in  Newburyport,  Mass., 
who  had  been  struck  with  the  family  resemblance,  and  wished  to  learn 
from  what  source  it  had  been  obtained.  Since  then,  the  Thornton 
family  have  had  a  portrait  painted  from  this  Burns  engraving,  and 
presented  to  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  which  now  hangs  in  the 
capitol  at  Concord. 

"The  Williams  was  taken  from  a  recently  published  history  of  the 
Williams  family.  It  resembles  very  closely  the  wood-cut  in  the  Hunt 
work,  and  both  have  the  same  peculiar  manner  of  wearing  the  hair. 
The  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee,  in  Hunt's  book,  was  evidently  from  the 
same  source  that  Lossing  obtained  his,  as  given  in  the  frontispiece  to 
the  second  volume  of  his  Field  Book  ;  the  Burns  engraving  of  Lee  was 
from  the  Lossing  copy.  The  Bartlett,  in  the  Burns  series,  corre 
sponded  with  a  likeness  I  had  traced  to  his  family.  The  Hall  likeness 
was  taken  from  Brotherhead's  Book  of  the  Signers ;  while  the  Hart, 
Braxton,  Gwinnett,  Penn,  and  Thornton  were  taken  from  engravings 
in  Hunt's  publication,  which  were  copied  to  complete  my  series,  and 
my  friends,  and  all'  who  have  seen  the  collection,  are  familiar  with 
their  source. 

"After  Burns  issued  the  series,  Charles  L.  Paschal,  of  West  Phila 
delphia,  a  great-grandson  of  Hart,  wrote  me  in  October,  1872,  inquir 
ing  about  its  origin,  saying  that  '  the  Burns  engraving  of  Hart  from 
your  collection  has  been  received.  His  descendants  know  by  tradition 
that  there  was,  years  ago,  a  portrait  of  him  in  existence,  and  as  one  of 
them  I  am  willing  to  accept  this  engraving  as  from  the  long-lost  pic 
ture,  because  the  family  likeness  is  seen  distinctly  in  the  descendants. 
1  believe,  therefore,  it  is  correct,  and  am  willing  to  accept  it  as  authen 
tic,  and  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  prove  the  same,  while  some  of  my 
relatives  still  live  to  assist  me,  though  at  an  old  age." 


40  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

"Compare  the  Braxton  profile  engraving  as  published  by  Burns 
from  the  Hunt  work,  with  the  full-faced  etching  recently  issued, 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  both  likenesses  were  from  the  same 
original. 

"There  are  other  curious  circumstances  and  corroborations  in 
regard  to  these  Hunt  likenesses,  although  so  roughly  executed. 
That  of  Lewis  Morris  is  a  case  in  point.  I  had  never  before  seen  a 
portrait  of  Morris,  except  in  Trumbull's  picture  as  a  young  man  ;  and 
this  Hunt  representation  bears  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  his 
descendants  now  living  in  New  York,  with  whom  I  have  been  per 
sonally  acquainted  both  in  the  present  and  past  generations.* 

"A  Miss  Morris,  of  the  family  of  Lewis  Morris,  Jr.,  has  stated  to 
me  that  the  portrait  of  Lewis  Morris,  the  Signer,  which  this  wood-cut 
in  Hunt  so  closely  resembles,  had  been  for  many  years  in  the  posses 
sion  of  her  father,  near  Willtown,  South  Carolina  ;  but  during  Sher 
man's  march,  a  party  of  officers  stopped  at  the  house  to  obtain  some 
refreshments,  which  were  prepared  by  the  ladies  of  the  family,  who 
were  alone.  After  the  meal,  one  of  the  officers  arose  from  the  table, 
and  with  his  sword  destroyed  this  picture  as  he  left  the  room.  Miss 
Morris,  on  being  shown  the  Hunt  likeness  of  her  ancestor,  the  Signer, 
said  that  it  had  evidently  been  copied  from  the  family  portrait. 

"The  Morton  was  not  engraved  from  the  Hunt  work,  as  his 
descendants  held  that  there  never  had  been  a  portrait  painted  of  him. 
Yet  I  now  think  that  this  evidence  proves  nothing  except  that  they 
do  not  happen  to  know  of  any  ;  for  it  was  the  custom  of  the  day  for 
every  public  man  to  have  his  portrait  painted — and  the  family  portraits 
were  then  about  the  only  wall  decorations  in  use. 

"The  Smith  and  Taylor  were  copied  from  two  wood-cuts, 
which  I  purchased,  among  some  odds  and  ends,  at  the  Tefft  sale  of 
autographs,  in  March,  1867;  and  were  of  much  larger  size,  and  of 
older  date,  but  evidently  from  the  same  source  as  the  wood-cuts  in 

*  Lossing,  in  his  Field  Book,  and  Brotherhead,  in  two  editions  of  his  Book  of 
the  Signers,  substantially  copy  Trumbull;  though  Brotherhead,  in  the  first  edition 
of  his  work,  reverses  the  view.  \V.  A.  P.  Morris,  of  Madison,  Wis.,  a  grandson 
of  the  Signer,  has  a  likeness  of  his  father,  Gen.  Jacob  Morris;  and  both  father  and 
son,  in  addition  to  their  baldness,  indicate  other  points  of  resemblance  to  both 
the  Morris  engraving  in  the  Burns  series,  and  in  the  Trumbull  picture. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  4! 

the  Hunt  book — from  some  older  work  from  which  they  were  copied. 
The  authenticity  of  these  likenesses,  however,  must  remain  in  doubt. 
I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  Tefft  wood-cuts  of  Smith  and  Taylor 
and  the  likenesses  in  Hunt's  book  were  evidently  from  the  same 
source,  though  the  Hunt  ones  were  only  about  half  the  size  of  the 
Tefft  cuts.  While  this  was  on  my  mind,  Dr.  B.  J.  Lossing  paid  me  a 
visit ;  and  as  he  had  been  an  engraver,  I  showed  him  one  of  the  Tefft 
wood-cuts,  and  asked  him  if  he  knew  anything  about  them.  He 
pointed  to  the  engraver's  name  on  the  block,  showing  that  the  period 
when  these  cuts  were  made  antedated  Hunt's  work — the  engraver 
dying  about  1820.  These  two  wood-cuts  have  since  been  lost. 

"The  Rodney  was  the  only  'make-up'  of  the  whole  set  issued  by 
Burns.  It  was  copied  from  the  St.  Memin  portrait  of  the  Signer's 
nephew,  Caesar  A.  Rodney,  whose  profile  bore  a  remarkable  resem 
blance  to  his  uncle,  as  I  had  been  informed  by  different  members  of 
his  family. 

"  Regarding  Hunt's  Panorama,  so  often  referred  to  in  connection 
with  the  Burns  engravings,  I  may  add,  that  it  was  evidently  written  for 
the  purpose  of  utilizing  a  number  of  odd  plates  and  wood-blocks  of  differ 
ent  styles,  originally  gotten  up  for  other  purposes.  Munsell  told  me 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  origin  of  the  portraits,  beyond  the  fact 
that  he  had  to  take  a  lot  of  old  plates  for  a  bad  debt,  and  these  were 
among  the  collection — and  the  book  was  written  to  utilize  them. 

"And  yet  Mr.  Munsell  has,  in  a  playful  way,  stated  in  the  catalogue 
of  his  imprints,  that  these  engravings  were  the  result  of  the  imagination 
of  a  young  English  artist,  closeted  in  a  room,  and  inspired  by  beer  and 
tobacco.  I  never  saw  a  man  laugh  more  heartily  than  Munsell  did, 
when  telling  the  late  F.  S.  Hoffman  and  myself  how  easily  he  gulled  a 
friend  of  his  with  the  story  of  shutting  up  an  English  engraver  to  pre 
pare  a  set  of  the  Signers  for  him  ;  that  this  friend  seemed  to  want  some 
thing  of  the  kind,  so  he  gave  him  a  tough  yarn. 

' '  But,  instead  of  these  Hunt  engravings  being  a  cheat  and  decep 
tion,  it  is  evident  that  those  of  them  with  which  we  are  familiar,  are 
fair,  as  regards  likenesses,  though  very  poorly  executed.  The  volume 
is  filled  with  portraits,  and  many  of  them  we  can  identify  by  compari 
son  with  other  likenesses,  so  that  it  is  evident  that  the  artist  had  an 
original  to  copy  from  in  almost  every  instance. 

4 


42  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

"Mr.  Burns  did  a  good  work  in  adding  so  many  authentic  por 
traits,  while  the  uncertain  ones,  to  complete  the  series,  were  done  by 
request,  for  illustrations.  I  wish  that  we  had  authentic  portraits  for 
the  whole  number ;  but  until  they  can  be  found,  I  shall  be  satisfied 
with  what  I  have,  feeling  that  full  justice  has  been  done  them  in  the 
ideal,  if  ever  proved  so.  I  believe  that  portraits  once  existed  of  the 
whole  ;  for  the  custom  was  too  general  at  the  time  these  men  lived, 
and  they  may  yet  be  found.  But  until  then,  no  one  can  say  posi 
tively  that  some  of  these  portraits  are  without  foundation — for  the 
opposite  opinion  could  as  well  be  held." 

These  views  of  Dr.  Emmet  are  thoughtful  and  judicious.  Another 
well-known  and  intelligent  collector,  the  late  Robert  C.  Davis,  of 
Philadelphia,  remarks:  "Some  of  Mr.  Burns'  series  of  the  Signers 
are  doubtful  ;  but  if  we  desire  to  illustrate  their  writings,  what  better 
can  we  do?  "  We  may  feel  thankful  that  we  have  so  many  likenesses 
of  the  Signers  that  are  of  such  well-established  excellence  and  authen 
ticity  ;  and  of  the  few  uncertain  ones,  we  may  very  properly  treasure 
them  in  our  illustrations  until  more  reliable  ones  can  be  discovered. 

One  such  discovery  has  recently  occurred,  as  is  learned  from  Mr. 
Charles  Roberts,  of  Philadelphia,  who  writes  :  "At  the  New  Orleans 
Exhibition  of  1885,  I  found  a  photograph  of  Carter  Braxton,  in  the 
Virginia  display.  On  inquiry,  at  Richmond,  it  turned  out  to  be 
genuine,  and  we  have  etched  it."  Dr.  Fogg,  of  Boston,  writes  that, 
in  his  opinion,  the  Bartlett  likeness  of  the  Hall  series  bears  no  resem 
blance  to  the  painting  of  that  Signer  by  Trumbull,  preserved  in  the 
old  homestead  at  Stratham,  N.  H.,  which  has  been  engraved  at  pri 
vate  hands,  a  copy  of  which  he  sent  to  the  Wisconsin  Historical 
Society.  It  is  believed,  too,  that  there  is  a  likeness  of  Lynch  extant, 
as  it  has  been  promised  by  his  friends  for  Independence  Hall. 

Might  it  not  be  better  to  have  the  Morton  likeness,  from  Hunt's 
Panorama,  reproduced,  or  one  made  from  prominent  family  traits  sug 
gested  by  its  members,  rather  than  have  none  at  all  ? 

Since  Dr.  Emmet  penned  his  statement,  touching  Hunt's  Panorama 
and  its  engravings  of  the  Signers,  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  which 
he  had  overlooked,  that  while  Hunt's  work  appeared  in  1849,  Dr. 
Lossing  had  published  early  in  the  preceding  year,  his  Lives  of  the 
Signers,  giving  forty-nine  wood-cuts  of  the  Signers,  lacking  only 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  43 

Thornton,  Hart,  Morton,  Rodney,  Braxton,  Penn,  and  Gwinnett  ; 
and  what  is  significant,  is,  that  all  of  these  forty-nine  likenesses, 
together  with  that  of  R.  R.  Livingston,  are  precisely  the  same  as  those 
in  Hunt's  book,  with  slight  changes,  in  some  instances,  in  bust  or 
costume,  but  not  in  facial  expression.  Dr.  Lossing  must  have  had 
good  foundation  for  all  these  representations — giving  five  more  than 
Trumbull ;  so  that  Hunt,  after  all,  copying  from  Lossing,  had  high 
authority  for  most  of  the  wood-cut  engravings  of  the  Signers  given  in 
his  Panorama. 

The  Ellery,  Lewis  Morris,  Smith  and  Taylor  likenesses  discussed  by 
Dr.  Emmet,  are  thus  shown  to  have  been  originally  brought  forward 
by  Dr.  Lossing,  a  year  in  advance  of  Hunt.  While  in  his  work  on  the 
Signers,  Lossing  gives  George  Taylor,  as  copied  by  Hunt ;  yet  from 
mere  accident  this  Taylor  likeness  was  omitted  in  his  engraving  of  the 
Signers,  prefixed  to  the  second  volume  of  his  Field  Book  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  published  four  years  later. 

Dr.  Emmet  makes  reference  to  Mr.  Lossing's  likeness  of  Francis 
Lightfoot  Lee  in  his  representation  of  the  Signers.  Much  credit  is  due 
Dr.  Lossing  for  the  pains  he  took  in  perfecting  this  engraving.  Forty- 
eight  of  the  Signers  are  represented  in  the  picture,  together  with  R.  R. 
Livingston,  one  of  the  Declaration  committee,  not  present  at  the  sign 
ing.  Besides  F.  L.  Lee,  Dr.  Lossing  introduces  four  others,  not  given 
by  Trumbull — Smith,  Ross,  Stone  and  Hall.  The  eight  not  appearing 
on  Lossing's  picture  are  Thornton,  Hart,  Taylor,  Morton,  Rodney, 
Braxton,  Penn  and  Gwinnett. 

Aside  from  the  group  of  the  Declaration  committee,  Dr.  Lossing 
thinks  he  did  not  copy  largely  from  Trumbull.  In  his  extensive  travels 
over  our  country  in  quest  of  historical  matter,  and  while  visiting  the 
families  of  the  Signers,  he,  with  the  eye  of  an  artist,  not  unfrequently 
discovered  better  delineations,  and  thus  availed  himself  of  his  rare 
opportunities  for  improvement.  But  after  a  lapse  of  forty  years,  and 
having  gathered  and  engraved  so  many  hundred  likenesses,  he  writes  that 
he  cannot,  at  this  late  day,  recall  the  sources  from  which  he  obtained 
them.  His  picture  of  the  Signers  must  ever  be  regarded  as  invaluable 
by  all  who  take  an  interest  in  the  pictorial  literature  of  the  country. 

Dr.  Emmet  also  refe'rs  to  the  Ellery  likeness  in  Hunt's  Panorama  as 
being  the  same  as  that  given  in  an  unfinished  plate,  in  possession  of 


44  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  At  the  sale  of  the  literary 
effects,  some  ten  or  a  dozen  years  ago,  of  the  late  John  K.  Wiggin,  a 
book-dealer  of  Boston,  Mr.  Burns,  of  New  York,  purchased  a  copy  of 
an  engraving  of  the  Signing  of  the  Declaration,  very  different  from 
Trumbull's,  some  of  the  Signers  having  only  the  heads,  but  the  plate 
contained  a  large  number  of  the  Signers  ;  that  Mr.  Wiggin,  learning 
of  the  plate,  got  permission  to  have  a  few  impressions  taken  from  it. 
Dr.  Emmet  has  the  impression  obtained  by  Mr.  Burns.  Dr.  S.  A. 
Green  states  that  the  unfinished  copper  plate,  about  twenty-two  by 
twenty-eight  inches  in  size,  was  presented  to  the  Massachusetts  His 
torical  Society  in  1859,  by  Hon.  Leverett  Saltonstall,  who  says  that  he 
obtained  it  from  the  treasurer  of  the  Revere  Copper  Company  of  Bos 
ton.  The  treasurer  received  it  among  a  lot  of  scrap  copper,  and  was 
curious  to  learn  something  of  its  history  ;  but  was  unable  to  discover 
anything.  The  artist  is  unknown,  and  the  plate  itself  reveals  nothing 
of  its  origin. 

The  Morton  engraving  in  Hunt's  Biographical  Panorama,  Mr. 
Charles  Roberts  writes,  does  not,  he  is  informed,  resemble  the  family. 
"I  remember,"  he  adds,  "John  S.  Morton,  who  lived  near  us,  and 
our  families  visited.  I  understand  that  he  made  every  effort  to  obtain 
a  portrait  of  his  ancestor,  the  Signer,  but  without  success  ;  and  placed 
a  tablet  instead  in  Independence  Hall.  I  am  satisfied  that  there  is  no 
authentic  portrait  of  Morton."  Mr.  Stauffer  adds:  ''There  is  no 
portrait  extant  of  Morton,  save  one  through  a  mediumistic  source — the 
family  have  none  ;  every  branch  having  been  diligently  interviewed. " 

The  late  B.  B.  Thatcher,  of  Boston,  a  noted  litterateur  and  auto 
graph  collector  of  his  day,  declared,  over  fifty  years  ago,  that  the  forma 
tion  of  a  set  of  autographs  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  was  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  American  collectors — many  having 
attempted  it,  and  but  few  succeeded.  Brotherhead,  in  his  monograph 
on  his  visit  to  Mr.  Dreer's  collection  of  autographs,  in  1857,  speaking 
of  his  full  set  of  the  Signers,  adds  :  "We  know  many  industrious  col 
lectors,  and  they  find  it  very  difficult  to  collect  even  those  that  are  con 
sidered  the  most  common.  In  a  few  years,  such  a  collection  will 
bring  an  extraordinary  price  ;  "  and  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Book  of 
the  Signers.  1861,  he  says  :  "Both  at  home  and  abroad,  every  docu 
ment,  letter,  or  signature  from  the  hand  of  a  Signer,  has  become  valua- 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS.  45 

ble  ;  and  the  autographs  of  some  of  these  worthies,  it  is  almost  impos 
sible  to  obtain.  A  complete  set  is  of  the  extremest  rarity  " — adding, 
that  autographs  of  Heyward,  Ross,  Harrison,  Hall,  Livingston  and 
Hopkins  are  scarce  ;  while  those  of  Lewis  Morris,  Stockton,  Hart, 
Morton,  Taylor,  Wythe,  Penn,  Hewes,  Lynch,  Middleton,  and  Gwin- 
net  "are  almost  impossible  to  obtain,  even  a  signature;  and  that 
others  are  becoming  rare,  and  bear  a  high  value  in  proportion  to  their 
scarcity."  Mr.  Burns  declared,  in  1870,  when  the  supply  was  less 
exhausted  than  now,  that  a  collection  of  autographs  of  the  Signers  was 
by  no  means  easy  to  be  brought  together  ;  while  the  late  Mr.  Sabin, 
a  year  later,  said  that  "the  formation  of  a  set  now  is  excessively 
difficult." 

It  is,  therefore,  no  small  marvel  that  our  Society  should,  at  this  late 
day,  have  succeeded  in  completing  our  collection,  after  a  quarter  of  a 
century's  efforts — aided  by  that  prince  of  autograph  collectors,  Charles 
DeF.  Burns,  of  New  York.  Our  set  is  as  yet  unbound,  purposely 
delaying  that  final  completion  of  the  work,  with  the  hope  of  possibly 
substituting  full  letters  for  some  of  the  five  signed  documents  of  Hart, 
Morton,  Heyward,  Middleton  and  Gwinnett — the  chances  are,  how 
ever,  too  faint  to  warrant  an  expectation  ;  and  of  the  other,  the  Lynch 
signature,  which  is  a  good  one,  there  is  not  the  least  prospect  whatever 
of  improving  it.  Another  motive  for  delay  in  binding  the  collection, 
is  to  add  somewhat  to  the  number  of  engravings  for  appropriate  illus 
trations. 

When  ultimately  bound,  they  might  possibly  be  compressed  into 
three  volumes ;  one  for  each  of  the  old  divisions  of  the  Union — the 
Eastern,  Middle,  and  Southern  States.  But  it  is  much  more  probable 
that  the  accumulation  of  illustrative  matter,  views  and  engravings,  will 
render  it  advisable  to  extend  the  number  of  volumes  to  perhaps  eight — 
viz.  :  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts,  with  their  illustrations,  eight 
Signers;  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  six;  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  nine  ;  Pennsylvania,  nine  ;  Delaware  and  Maryland,  seven  ; 
Virginia,  seven  ;  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  ten.  The 
eighth  volume  to  be  composed  of  fac-similes  of  the  Declaration,  a 
printed  broadside  of  the  Declaration,  published  by  order  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  Rhode  Island,  July  12,  1776,  a  copy  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette  of  July  10,  1776,  containing  the  Declaration  ;  together  with 


46  AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS. 

autographs  of  Charles  Thomson,  the  Secretary  of  Congress,  and  of 
those  members  who  voted  on  the  question,  but  were  not  present  when 
the  engrossed  copy  of  the  Declaration  was  subsequently  signed. 

Such  an  arrangement  of  the  autograph  letters  and  documents,  with 
appropriate  illustrations,  and  letterpress  of  Sanderson's  Biography  of 
the  Signers,  with  perhaps  selections  from  Brotherhead's  Book  of  the 
Signers,  all  inlaid,  and  properly  bound,  would  present  a  noble  record 
of  the  FATHERS  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

A  brief  catalogue  of  our  Society's  set  of  these  almost  priceless  letters 
and  documents  cannot  prove  otherwise  than  interesting — noting  their 
dates,  number  of  pages,  general  condition,  and  in  some  instances,  the 
subject  matter  to  which  they  relate. 

An  explanation  seems  proper  of  the  abbreviations  used  in  describing 
different  kinds  of  autographs,  with  their  relative  rank  or  value.  In 
making  a  collection  of  autographs,  all  seek  to  obtain,  if  possible,  A.  L. 
S. — autograph  letters  signed — as  the  best  and  highest  class  of  specimens. 
Some  regard  L.  S. — letters  signed,  the  body  written  by  a  clerk — as  next 
in  rank  of  desirableness  ;  but  it  would  seem  that  A.  D.  S. — autograph 
documents  signed,  entirely  in  the  handwriting  of  the  signer — should  be 
preferred.  D.  S. — documents  signed,  whether  printed  or  written  by 
another  ;  and  cut  signatures  are  the  least  desirable  autographs,  yet  they 
often  serve  to  complete  sets  when  nothing  better  can  be  obtained.  An 
A.  D. — auto  graph  document,  not  signed,  is  sometimes  called  into  requisi 
tion  to  eke  out  a  collection,  as  better  than  no  specimen  at  all,  which  it 
surely  is.  A.  N.  S. — autograph  note  signed — is  generally  regarded  as 
equivalent  to  an  A.  L.  S.  Collectors  constantly  endeavor  to  improve  all 
these  classes  by  better  specimens,  in  date,  size,  subject  matter,  or  con 
dition. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE  DELEGATION. 

1.  JOSIAH  BARTLETT,  A.  L.  S.,  December  6,  1794,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

2.  WILLIAM   WHIFFLE,  A.  L.  S.,  September   7,  1779,  two  pages,  in 
good  condition,  addressed  to   his  associate  Signer,  Mr.  Bartlett,  con 
gratulating  his  friend  on  "the  late  happy  event  between  England  and 
Spain  " — i.  e.,   their   getting   by    the   ears,    by  which    the   struggling 
young  Republic  might  hope  to  profit. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  47 

3.  MATTHEW  THORNTON,  A.    L.   S.,  October  9,  1775,  one  page,  in 
good  condition. 

MASSACHUSETTS   DELEGATION. 

4.  JOHN   HANCOCK,   A.    L.    S. ,    September  9,    1780,   one  page,   in 
good  condition. 

5.  SAMUEL  ADAMS,   A.   L.  S.,   March    14,    1768,   addressed  to   the 
people  of  Boston,  which,  says  that  experienced  and  competent  judge 
of  autographs,  C.    DeF.  Burns,  "is  really  the  most  satisfactory  speci 
men  of  the  name  I  have  ever  had."     It  covers   two  pages,    dated, 
signed,  and  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Adams — a  beautiful  sample  of 
chirography,  finely  preserved.      It  conveys  facts  of  interest  concerning 
the  poverty  of  the  Bostonians,  and   its   causes,  a  few  years  anterior  to 
the  Revolution,  viz.  : 

To  the  Free-holders  and  other  Inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston,  in 
Annual  Town  Meeting  assembled,  March  i^th,  1768  : 

The  Memorial  of  Samuel  Adams  showeth  : 

That  your  Memoralist  was  chosen  by  said  Town  in  the  year  1764,  a  Col 
lector  of  Taxes, — in  which  capacity  he  had  before  served  the  Town  for 
nine  years  successively — and  being  duly  sworn,  had  the  Province,  Town 
and  County  taxes,  assessed  the  same  year,  accordingly  committed  to  him 
to  collect;  at  the  same  time  he  became  bound  to  the  Town  Treasurer, 
with  suretys,  in  the  penal  sums  of  Five  thousand  Pounds  for  the  payment 
of  the  same  into  the  respective  Treasurys. 

That  with  all  possible  diligence,  and  with  his  best  discretion,  he  attended 
his  duty  ;  but  was  greatly  retarded  by  means  of  the  small  pox,  which  then 
prevailed  in  the  Town,  and  other  obstructions :  So  that  he  was  unable  to 
make  any  great  Progress,  till  a  new  year  came  on,  when  a  new  Tax  was 
levied,  on  the  same  Persons  who  remained  indebted  to  him  as  aforesaid, 
which  Tax  was  committed  to  another  person  to  collect.  That  the  Town 
cannot  be  unmindful  of  the  difficulties  which  the  next  year  ensued,  by 
Reason  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  the  Confusion  consequent  thereupon;  which 
in  a  great  Measure  interrupted  the  course  of  Business  of  every  kind.  By 
all  which  there  became  a  Burden  of  three  years'  taxes  upon  those  Per 
sons,  many  of  them  at  least,  who  had  not  paid  your  Memoralist  for  the 
said  year  1764. 

That  the  Town,  the  last  year,  saw  fit  to  direct  their  Treasurer  to  put 


48  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

the  Bond  afore'd  in  suit  ;  which  he  accordingly  did,  and  obtained  a  Judg 
ment  thereon  ;  and  altho'  your  Mem'st  has  since  been  able  to  lessen  the 
sum  by  Payments  into  the  Treasury,  yet  there  still  remains  a  large  bal 
ance  due,  which  your  Treasurer,  if  called  on,  can  ascertain. 

Now  your  Memoralist  prays  the  Town  to  take  the  matter,  with  all  its 
circumstances,  into  candid  consideration,  and  grant  him  a  further  Time 
to  collect  his  out-standing  Debts,  that  he  may  be  enabled  thereby  to  com- 
pleat  the  Obligation  of  his  Bond  :  Or  otherwise,  that  the  Town  will  do 
that  which  to  them  all  shall  seem  good. 

With  all  due  respect  to  the  Town, 

SAMUEL   ADAMS. 

6.  JOHN  ADAMS,  A.  L.   S.,   November  7,  1789,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

7.  ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE,  A.  L.  S.,  February  n,  1792,  two  pages, 
in  good  condition. 

8.  ELBRIDGE  GERRY,  A.  L.  S.,  April   27,   1814,   one  page,    in  good 
condition. 

RHODE  ISLAND  DELEGATION. 

9.  STEPHEN  HOPKINS,  A.  L.  S.,  June  17,  1758 — a  note  to  the  House 
of  Deputies  of  that  Province,  about  surgeons  for  the  R.  I.  regiment 
then  in  service,  one  page,  in  good  condition. 

10.  WILLIAM  ELLERY,   A.  L.  S.,  May  21,  1786,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

CONNECTICUT  DELEGATION. 

11.  ROGER  SHERMAN,   A.  L.  S.,  July  26,    1765,  one  page,    in  good 
condition. 

12.  SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON,  A.  L.  S.,   April  28,  1785,  two  pages,  in 
good  condition. 

13.  WILLIAM  WILLIAMS,  A.  L.  S.,  June  3,  1785,  three  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

14.  OLIVER  WOLCOTT,  A.  L.  S.,  June  17,  1786,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

NEW  YORK  DELEGATION. 

15.  WILLIAM  FLOYD,  A.  L.  S.,  dated  Philadelphia,  August  10,  1776, 
expressing  anxiety  to  hear  about  the  situation  of  affairs,  after  the  Brit- 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  49 

ish  invasion,  on  Long  Island,  where  he  then  resided — "What  has 
become  of  Gen.  Woodhull,  Mr.  Hobart,  Treadwell  and  Smith — what 
about  my  family — who  escaped,  or  what  must  they  submit  to  ?  "  Two 
pages,  in  good  condition. 

1 6.  PHILIP  LIVINGSTON,  A.  L.  S.,  November  n,  1751,  one  page,  in 
good  condition. 

17.  FRANCIS  LEWIS,  A.  L.  S. ,  July  13,  1779,  one  page,  in  good  con 
dition.      "Doctor  Witherspoon   and  Col.   Atlee,"  writes  Mr.  Lewis, 
"two  of  the  committee  sent  to  Bennington,  are  returned,  and  yester 
day  offered  their  report  to  Congress,  who  were  of  opinion  that  it  could 
not  be  officially  received,  as  the  two  others  from  Connecticut  did  not 
join  them  at  the  conference.     .     .     .     Our  cruisers  have  of  late  been 
successful — two  valuable  prizes  arrived   here  yesterday   and  the  day 
before." 

1 8.  LEWIS  MORRIS,  A.  L.  S.,   March  6,    1784,  one  page,   in  good 
condition. 

NEW  JERSEY  DELEGATION. 

19.  RICHARD  STOCKTON,  A.  L.  S.,  April  5,  1779,   on  land  matters, 
one  page,  in  good  condition. 

20.  JOHN  WITHERSPOON,  A.  L.  S.,    December    19,  1785,  one  page, 
in  good  condition. 

21.  FRANCIS   HOPKINSON,  A.    L.  S.,   July  31,  1777 — instructions  to 
Capts.  Barry  and  Reed,  two  pages,  in  good  condition. 

22.  JOHN  HART,  A.    D.  S.,  an  account  of  two  pages,  and  indorse 
ment,  January  i,  1778,  in  good  condition. 

23.  ABRAHAM  CLARK,  A.  L.  S.,  January  9,  1794,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

PENNSYLVANIA  DELEGATION. 

24.  ROBERT  MORRIS,  A.  L.  S.,  March  18,  1795,  one  page,  in  good 
condition — acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  sword  of  the  late  Admiral 
Paul  Jones,   which   Mr.    Morris  says  he    "presented  to  Com.   John 
Barry,  the  senior  officer  of  the  present  American  Navy,  who  will  never 
disgrace  it. " 

25.  BENJAMIN  RUSH,  A.  L.  S.,   July  25,  1796,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 


$O  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

26.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,*  A.   L.    S.,    London,   May  2,    1770 — ad 
dressed  to  Noble  Wimberly  Jones,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  Georgia  : 

"  SIR. — Your  favor  of  February  21,  was  duly  delivered  to  me  by  Mr. 
Preston,  I  immediately  bespoke  the  Mace  agreeable  to  your  orders,  and 
was  assured  it  should  be  worked  upon  with  diligence,  so  that  I  hope  to 
have  it  ready  to  send  with  the  Gowns  by  a  ship  that  I  understand  goes 
directly  to  Georgia  sometime  next  month.  By  the  estimation  of  the 
Jeweller,  who  undertook  it,  the  cost  will  not  exceed  ^80.  What  the 
Gowns  will  amount  to,  I  have  not  yet  learnt  ;  but  suppose  ^100  will  be 
more  than  sufficient  for  the  whole.  I  esteem  myself  highly  honored  by 
your  Government  in  being  appointed,  as  you  inform  me,  a  second  time 
their  Agent.  I  shall  rejoice  in  any  opportunity  of  rendering  effectual  ser 
vice  to  the  Province.  I  beg  you  will  present  my  thankful  acknowledg 
ments  to  the  several  branches  of  your  Legislature,  and  assure  them  of 
my  faithful  endeavors  in  the  execution  of  any  commands  I  may  receive 
from  them." 

27.  JOHN  MORTON,  D.  S.,  a  commission  as  speaker  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Assembly,  July  8,  1776,  in  good  condition. 

28.  GEORGE  CLYMER,   A.  L.  S.,   May  7,    1794,   one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

29.  JAMES  SMITH,   A.    L.  S.,   August  2,    1779,   one  page,    in  good 
condition. 

30.  GEORGE  TAYLOR,  A.  L.  S. ,  April  18,  1757,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

31.  JAMES   WILSON,  A.  L.  S.,  June  18,  1792,  three  pages,  in  good 
condition — on  land  matters,  addressed  to  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton, 
with  a  page  of  holograph  notes  of  Mr.  Carroll's  reply. 

32.  GEORGE  Ross,  A.  L.  S.,  January  20,  1779,  one  Paoe>  in  good 
condition. 

DELAWARE    DELEGATION. 

33.  CESAR  RODNEY,  A.  L.  S.,  August  13,  1/79,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

*  Dr.  Franklin  could  not  probably  have  had  very  much  to  do  in  the  prepara 
tion  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  In  a  MS.  letter  of  the  doctor,  dated 
June  21,  1776,  addressed  to  Gen.  Washington,  now  in  Dr.  Emmet's  collection, 
occurs  this  statement  :  "I  am  just  recovering  from  a  severe  fit  of  gout,  so  that  I 
know  little  of  what  has  passed  there  [in  Congress],  except  that  a  Declaration  of 
Independence  is  preparing." 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLEC7IONS.  5  I 

34.  GEORGE  READ,  A.   L.  S.,   September  25,    1797,    two  pages,    in 
good  condition. 

35.  THOMAS  McKEAN,  A.  L.  S.,  January  4,  1787,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

MARYLAND    DELEGATION. 

36.  SAMUEL  CHASE,  A.  L.  S.,  March  16,  1785,  on  business  matters, 
three  pages,  in  good  condition. 

37.  WILLIAM  PACA,    A.   L.  S.,   April    5,    1772,   one  page,   in  good 
condition. 

38.  THOMAS  STONE,  A.  L.    S. ,  May  26,    1786,   two  pages,    in  good 
condition. 

39.  CHARLES  CARROLL,  of  Carrollton,  A.  L.  S.,  July   18,  1790,  one 
page,  in  good  condition.     Also  a  letter  from  the  Signer's  father,  dated 
August    3,    1775,    addressed    to    "Dear   Charley" — and    directed  to 
"Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton." 

VIRGINIA  DELEGATION. 

40.  GEORGE  WYTHE,  A.   L.   S.,  April  26,  1790,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

41.  RICHARD    HENRY  LEE,  A.    L.  S.,  January  20,  1793,  two  pages, 
in  good  condition. 

42.  THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  A.  L.  S.,  August  7,  1814,  business  matters, 
two  pages,  in  good  condition. 

43.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  A.   L.   S.,    May   n,   1788,   two  pages,  in 
good  condition. 

44.  THOMAS  NELSON,  Jr.,  A.  L.  S.,  July  30,  1785,  business  matters, 
three  pages,  in  good  condition. 

45.  FRANCIS  LIGHTFOOT  LEE,  A.  L.  S.,  May  3,  1771,   three  pages, 
in  good  condition. 

46.  CARTER  BRAXTON,  A.  L.  S.,  September  8,  1784,  two  pages,   in 
good  condition. 

NORTH   CAROLINA   DELEGATION. 

47.  WILLIAM  HOOPER,   A.   L.    S.,   August  2,    1787,  two  pages,   in 
good  condition. 

48.  JOSEPH  HEWES,  A.  L.  S.,  May  15,  1776,  one  page,  in  good  con- 


52  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

dition  ;  stating  that  about  three  tons  of  powder  had  been  voted  by 
Congress  for  the  use  of  North  Carolina,  and  had  been  forwarded  in 
twenty-five  pork  barrels,  in  three  wagons. 

49.  JOHN  PENN,  A.  L.  S.,  June  7,  1778,  one  page,  in  good  condi 
tion.* 

SOUTH  CAROLINA  DELEGATION. 

50.  EDWARD  RUTLEDGE,  A.  L.  S.,  May  12,  1795,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

51.  THOMAS  HEYWARD,  Jr.,   document  signed,  March  29,  1788,  in 
good  condition. 

Also  an  autograph  document,  attributed  to  him,  but  probably  only 
a  copy,  not  signed,  two  pages  of  doggerel — entitled  "A  song  made  at 
St.  Augustine,"  no  date,  but  during  i78o-'8i,  while  a  prisoner  there, 
captured  at  the  surrender  of  Charleston.  This  song  in  part  appears  in 
Johnson's  Traditions  of  the  Revolution,  pages  269-270,  and  entire  in 
American  Antiquarian,  May,  1871.  Garden,  in  his  Anecdotes,  mentions 
that  Judge  Heyward  wrote  patriotic  songs,  with  which  to  enliven  his 
fellow  prisoners,  copies  of  which  were  made  for  their  use. 

While  there  is  little  doubt  that  Judge  Heyward  composed  the  song 
preserved  in  this  copy,  yet,  on  comparison  of  this  manuscript  with  his 
autograph  signature,  and  fac-similes  of  his  chirography,  it  is  question 
able  if  this  is  a  holograph  copy — it  is,  at  least,  an  ancient  transcript, 
made  in  I78o-'8i,  by  one  of  his  associates  at  St.  Augustine. 

52.  THOMAS  LYNCH,  Jr.,  signature  only,  from  the  fly-leaf  of  a  book 

*  Sanderson ,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Signers,  followed  by  other  writers,  states  that 
Mr.  Penn  had  very  deficient  school  opportunities,  his  father  neglecting  to  give  him 
the  advantages  of  a  seminary  education,  and  that  he  had  merely  two  or  three 
years'  instruction  at  a  country  school.  This  is  hardly  correct.  The  writer  has 
early  manuscript  authorities  and  reliable  tradition,  showing  that  Penn,  a  native  of 
Caroline  County,  Virginia,  attended  awhile  the  very  superior  private  academy  kept 
by  Donald  Robertson,  in  the  adjoining  county  of  King  and  Queen,  who  made  his 
home  awhile  in  the  family  of  the  elder  Penn.  Robertson  was  a  distinguished 
Scotch  scholar,  who  had  taken  part  in  the  Scotch  rebellion  under  Prince  Charlie 
in  1745,  and  subsequently  retired  to  Virginia  ;  where,  among  his  scholars,  was 
James  Madison,  who,  we  are  told  by  the  historian  Bancroft,  rode  on  his  pony  from 
his  home  in  Orange  County,  a  hundred  miles  away,  for  the  sake  of  placing  himself 
under  the  superior  instructions  of  this  pre-eminent  teacher  of  his  day  ;  and  Jack 
Penn,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  among  Robertson's  most  promising  pupils. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  53 

which  once  belonged  to  him — certified  by  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Oilman, 
of  Charleston,  that  he  presented  the  Lynch  signatures  of  father  and  son, 
to  I.  K.  Tefft ;  with  Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Sprague's  certificate,  that  he  received 
these  signatures  from  Mr.  Tefft.  Fortunate,  indeed,  is  the  collector 
who  gets  a  genuine  Lynch  signature,  even  though  it  be  but  a  signa 
ture  only. 

53.  ARTHUR  MIDDLETON,  document  signed  May  20,  1782,  in  good 
condition. 

GEORGIA  DELEGATION. 

54.  BUTTON  GWINNETT,  document  signed,   May  6,    1777,   in  good 
condition,    and   very   neat.     Gwinnett's   autograph,   like   Lynch's,  is 
exceedingly  rare. 

55.  LYMAN  HALL,  A.  L.  S.,  March  30,  1759,  one  page,  in  good  con 
dition. 

56.  GEORGE  WALTON,    A.  L.  S.,    February    24,  1784,  two  pages  in 
good  condition. 

Thus  the  catalogue  shows  fifty  full  autograph  letters  in  the  collection 
of  our  Society,  of  which  those  of  Floyd  and  Hewes  were  written  in 
1776,  and  ten  others  during  the  Revolutionary  period.  There  is  no 
hope  of  improving  the  Lynch  signature,  which  is  a  good  one ; 
while  the  prospect  of  bettering  the  others,  Hart,  Morton,  Heyward, 
Middleton  and  Gwinnett  is  scarcely  more  encouraging.  As  it  is,  the 
set  is  a  fine  one,  in  good  condition  throughout ;  and  the  members  of 
our  Society  may  well  felicitate  themselves  in  the  possession  of  so  rich  a 
treasure. 

In  addition  to  these  fifty-six  autographs  proper  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Declaration,  we  have,  to  appropriately  accompany  them,  an  A.  L.  S., 
August  n,  1782,  of  Charles  Thomson,  the  Secretary  of  Congress, 
whose  name  attests  the  passage  and  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  ; 
also  an  A.  L.  S.  of  Robert  R.  Livingston,  August  2,  1810,  one  page, 
in  good  condition,  referring  to  his  wool  and  flocks  of  sheep  ;  an  A. 
L.  S.  of  Henry  Wisner,  October  9,  1778,  one  page,  somewhat  stained, 
otherwise  in  good  condition  ;  and  an  A.  L.  S.  of  George  Clinton, 
August  2,  1794,  referring  to  supplies  for  the  frontiers  of  New  York, 
one  page,  in  good  condition.  Livingston  was  one  of  the  drafting 
committee  of  the  Declaration,  while  Clinton  and  Wisner's  votes  were 


54  AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS. 

recorded  in  its  favor ;  but,  unfortunately  for  their  fame,  all  three  were 
called  away  from  Congress  by  public  duties  at  home,  before  the  final 
engrossment  of  the  document  on  parchment  for  the  signatures  of  the 
members — Livingston  even  before  the  vote  upon  its  passage  ;  but  all 
were  in  hearty  accord  with  the  measure,  and  in  full  faith  that  the  times 
and  the  circumstances  demanded  its  adoption. 

There  is  also  in  the  collection  an  A.  L.  S.  of  John  Dickinson,  of  the 
Pennsylvania  delegation,  September,  8,  1787,  in  good  condition.  He 
had  for  many  years  been  one  of  the  most  steady  and  powerful 
opponents  of  the  arbitrary  measures  of  Great  Britain  against  the  Colo 
nies  ;  but  when  Independence  was  brought  forward,  he  opposed  it  in 
debate  and  vote  as  premature.  It  is  further  to  be  stated,  that  the 
instructions  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  did  not  authorize  the  dele 
gates  to  vote  for  Independence.  Referring  to  Dickinson's  hesitation 
and  opposition,  Sanderson,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Signers,  says  :  "  When 
we  mention  the  name  of  that  great  and  good  man,  John  Dickinson, 
we  give  sufficient  proof  that  the  cause  of  these  sentiments  was  no 
unmanly  fear."  There  was  no  better  patriot  in  the  country;  and 
though  temporarily  retired  from  Congress,  he  was  the  next  year  made  a 
Brigadier-General  of  Pennsylvania  militia,  and  two  years  later  re-entered 
Congress  as  a  member  from  Delaware.  His  services  were  important 
to  his  country.  He  died  in  1808,  in  his  seventy-sixth  year. 

Mr.  Niles,  in  his  Weekly  Register  of  January  3,  1818,  relates  this 
interesting  incident  of  Dickinson,  "  as  showing  the  power  of  the  mind 
abstracted  from  personal  sensibilities  :  Fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago, 
then  residing  at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  as  I  passed  the  house  of  the 
late  venerable  John  Dickinson,  at  12  o'clock  in  the  day,  he  was  stand 
ing  at  the  door,  and  invited  me  in.  After  reproving  me  for  not  having 
called  to  see  him,  for  he  had  been  a  little  unwell,  he  said  that  he 
would  have  a  glass  of  wine  with  me — the  first  that  he  had  drank  for 
six  weeks.  After  taking  a  couple  of  glasses  in  instant  succession,  he 
suddenly  sat  down,  and  abruptly  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  the 
discussion  then  going  on  in  Congress  on  the  great  question  about  the 
Judiciary.*  Having  very  briefly  given  my  opinion,  he  said  in  a 
sprightly  manner,  '  I'll  tell  thee  mine  ' — on  which  he  began  an  argu- 

*  This  discussion  occurred  during  the  session  of  Congress  of  1801-1802. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  55 

ment  ;  soon  he  became  animated,  and  was  uneasy  in  his  seat.  As  he 
proceeded,  he  elevated  his  voice,  and,  finally,  rising  slowly  and  uncon 
sciously  from  his  chair,  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  addressed  me  as  if 
I  had  been  the  chairman  of  a  Legislative  body,  with  all  its  members 
present.  I  never  have  heard  a  discourse  that  was  comparable  to  this 
speech  for  its  fire  and  spirit,  poured  forth  like  a  torrent,  and  clothed 
in  the  most  beautiful  and  persuasive  language.  The  graceful  gestures 
of  the  orator,  his  fine  and  venerable  figure,  interesting  countenance, 
and  locks  'white  as  wool/  formed  a  tout  ensemble  that  riveted  me  to 
the  chair  with  admiration. 

"  His  delirium,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  lasted  nearly  half  an  hour, 
when  it  was  interrupted  by  one  of  the  family  entering  the  room.  He 
stopped  instantly,  with  a  word  half-finished  on  his  lips,  and  sat  down 
in  great  confusion — apologized  for  his  strange  behavior,  and  entirely 
dropped  the  subject.  Air.  Dickinson  was  an  elegant  speaker,  and 
one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  that  our  country  has  produced  ; 
but,  perhaps,  he  never  pronounced  a  speech  so  eloquent,  so 
chaste,  and  so  beautiful,  as  that  which  he  delivered  before  me  as 
stated.  It  was  his  soul  rather  than  his  person  that  acted  on  the  occa 
sion,  and  a  master-spirit  it  was.*  The  argument  was  in  favor  of  a 
repeal  of  the  Judiciary  act." 

Prominent  among  the  few  negative  votes  to  the  Declaration  was  that 

*  It  cannot  reasonably  be  charged,  or  suspected,  that  this  was  a  case  of  simula 
tion  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Dickinson.  Conceding  Mr.  Niles  as  a  credible  and  reli 
able  witness,  then  indeed,  a  "master-spirit"  must  have  controlled  this  great 
statesman  of  the  Revolution  on  this  notable  occasion.  Mr.  Niles  had  all  his  life 
mingled  with  the  great  orators  of  our  country,  and  must  have  been  familiar  with 
their  forensic  efforts,  and  yet  declares  that  he  "  never  heard  a  discourse  that  was 
comparable  to  this  speech," 

Such  an  exhibition  serves  to  remind  us  of  the  experiences  recorded  in  the  Bible 
— "the  gift  of  tongues,"  "spiritual  gifts,"  which  the  Rev.  Drs.  McClintock  and 
Strong,  in  their  Cyclopedia  of  Religious  Literature,  pronounce  as  "  utterances  of  a 
spiritual  kind;"  or,  as  Smith,  in  his  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  defines  spiritual 
gifts  as  "a  distinctly  linguistic  power." 

Whatever  may  be  the  definition  of  this  power,  as  God  is  the  same  yesterday, 
to-day  and  forever,  and  both  He  and  His  laws  alike  unchangeable,  we  may  very 
properly  conclude,  that  what  was  permissible  in  the  days  of  pentecost,  when  men 
began  to  speak  with  other  tongues  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance,  was  permis 
sible  with  John  Dickinson,  and  also  with  trance-speakers  of  modern  times. 


56  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

of  Joseph  Galloway,  also  of  the  Pennsylvania  delegation,  who  had  long 
filled  a  conspicuous  position  in  the  affairs  of  that  Colony. '  After  oppos 
ing  Independence,  and  retiring  from  Congress,  he  became  a  Tory,  and 
went  to  England.  An  autograph  document  with  his  signature,  August 
7,  1757,  is  included  in  the  collection. 

Catalogue  of  autographs  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  belong 
ing  to  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin  : 

NEW    HAMPSHIRE    DELEGATION. 

1.  JOHN  LANGDON,   A.  L.    S.,  October    20,    1809,    three  pages,    in 
good  condition. 

2.  NICHOLAS   OILMAN,  A.    L.   S.,    February   9,    1791,  one  page,  in 
good  condition. 

MASSACHUSETTS    DELEGATION. 

3.  NATHANIEL  GORHAM,    A.    L.    S.,   May    26,    1791,  one  page,    in 
good  condition. 

4.  RUFUS  KING,  A.  L.  S.,  September  20,  1822,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

CONNECTICUT    DELEGATION. 

5.  WILLIAM  SAMUEL  JOHNSON,  A.  L.  S.,  August  25,  1772,  one  page, 
in  good  condition. 

6.  ROGER  SHERMAN,  A.  L.  S.,  August  28,  1787,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

NEW   YORK    DELEGATION. 

7.  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON,  A.  L.  S.,  October  7,  1794,  one  page,  in 
good  condition. 

NEW    JERSEY    DELEGATION. 

8.  WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON,  A.  L.  S.,  June  4,  1784,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

9.  DAVID  BREARLEY,  A.  L.    S.,  May  21,  1783,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

10.  JONATHAN  DAYTON,  A.  L.  S.,  September  26,  1808,  one  page,  in 
good  condition. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  57 

11.  WILLIAM  PATERSON,  A.  L.  S.,  November  29,  1783,  one  page, 
in  good  condition. 

PENNSYLVANIA    DELEGATION. 

12.  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,   A.  L.  S.,  January  i,  1779,   one  page,   in 
good  condition. 

13.  THOMAS  MIFFLIN,  A.  L.  S.,  March  30,  1787,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

14.  ROBERT  MORRIS,  A.  L.  S.,  December  21,   1786,   one  page,  in 
good  condition. 

15.  GEORGE  CLYMER,  A.  L.  S.,  January  7,  1799,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

1 6.  THOMAS  FITZSIMMONS,  A.  L.  S.,  May  13,  1786,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

17.  JARED  INGERSOLL,   A.  L.  S.,   January   27,    1789,  one  page,   in 
good  condition. 

1 8.  JAMES  WILSON,  A.  L.  S.,  June  29,  1792,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

19.  GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS,  A.  L.  S. ,  December  23,  1805,  one  page, 
in  good  condition. 

DELAWARE   DELEGATION. 

20.  GEORGE  READ,  A.  L.  S.,   June   10,  1787,   one  page,   in  good 
condition. 

21.  GUNNING  BEDFORD,  A.  L.  S.,  February  3,  1810,  two  pages,  in 
good  condition. 

22.  JOHN  DICKINSON,  A.  L.  S.,  August  4,  1788,  one  page,  in  good 
condition.     It  is  addressed  to  Dr.  Rush,  tendering  his  "heartiest  con 
gratulations  on  the  adoption  by  the  eleventh  State,"  of  the  new  Consti 
tution. 

23.  RICHARD  BASSETT,  A.  L.  S.,  January  i,  1811,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

24.  JACOB  BROOM,  A.  L.  S.,  May  16,  1807,  one  page,  in  good  con 
dition. 

MARYLAND    DELEGATION. 

25.  JAMES  McHENRY,  A.  L.  S.,  March  10,  1780,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 


58  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

26.  DANIEL  OF  ST.  THOMAS  JENIFER,  A.  L.  S.,  December  12,  1785 
one  page,  in  good  condition. 

27.  DANIEL  CARROLL,  A.  L.  S. ,  August  16,  1783,  one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

VIRGINIA  DELEGATION. 

28.  JOHN   BLAIR,  A.    L.  S.,   March  20,    1787,   two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

29.  JAMES   MADISON,  A.  L.    S.,  February  22,    1823,    one   page,  in 
good  condition. 

30.  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  A.  L.  S.,  August  28,  1796,  one  page,  in 
good  condition — returning  thanks  for  a  Fourth  of  July  oration. 

NORTH  CAROLINA  DELEGATION. 

31.  WILLIAM  BLOUNT,  A.    L.    S.,  July  5,  1797,  one  page,  in  good 
condition.     This  letter  is  interesting,  as  referring  to  his  impeachment 
and  expulsion  from  the  United   States  Senate,  apparently  addressed  to 
some  friend  in  Tennessee,  where  he  resided  : 

"  In  a  few  days,"  he  writes,  "you  will  see  published,  by  order  of 
Congress,  a  letter  said  to  have  been  written  by  me  to  James  Carey. 
It  makes  a  damnable  fuss  here.  I  hope,  however,  the  people  upon 
the  Western  Wraters  will  see  nothing  but  good  in  it,  for  so  I  intended 
it — especially  for  Tennessee.  When  I  shall  be  in  Tennessee  is 
uncertain  ;  but  come  when  I  will,  I  trust  they  will  view  that  particular 
act  as  well-intended,  as  all  my  political  conduct  ever  has  been  towards 
them. 

"I  leave  Philadelphia  in  a  few  hours,  probably  not  to  return  to  it 
shortly.  Allison  is  incog.  Nothing  is  done  for  you.  You  had  best 
look  to  yourself.  I  suspect  the  Natchez  will  not  now  suit  you. 
Byers  is  a  rascal." 

32.  RICHARD    DOBBS   SPAIGHT,  A.   L.   S.,   February  25,    1794,   one 
page,  in  good  condition. 

33.  HUGH   WILLIAMSON,    A.    L.    S.,    August    4,    1778,   one   page, 
in  good  condition. 

SOUTH   CAROLINA   DELEGATION. 

34.  JOHN  RUTLEDGE,  A.  L.  S.,  April    18,  1778,  one  page,  an  intro 
duction,  in  good  condition. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  59 

35.  CHARLES   COTESWORTH    PINCKNEY,  A.  L.  S.,  March    16,    1815, 
three  pages,  in  good  condition. 

36.  CHARLES  PINCKNEY,   A.  L.  S.,  no  date  (but  written  in   1807), 
three  pages,  in  good  condition. 

37.  PIERCE  BUTLER,  A.  L.  S.,  January  15,  1808,  two  pages,  in  good 
condition. 

GEORGIA   DELEGATION. 

38.  WILLIAM  FEW,  A.  L.  S.,  January  9,  1790,   one  page,  in  good 
condition. 

39.  ABRAHAM  BALDWIN,   A.  L.  S.,  January  26,   1791,   one  page,   in 
good  condition. 

Also  an  A.  L.  S.  of  Col.  WILLIAM  JACKSON,  November  2,  1797,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Convention,  who  attested  the  Constitution,  one  page, 
in  good  condition. 

This  enumeration  of  the  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  and 
of  the  Constitution,  possessed  by  the  State  Historical  Society  of 
Wisconsin,  presents  a  fine  array  of  autographs  in  their  line  of  collec 
tion,  exceeded  in  only  a  few  instances  in  the  Declaration  series  ;  while 
the  Signers  of  the  Constitution  are  represented  by  full  autograph  letters 
in  every  instance,  and  four  were  written  in  the  year  the  Constitution 
was  formed,  1787. 

A  subject  so  interesting  warrants  a  reference  to  similar  collections 
extant,  so  far  as  the  best  attainable  information,  derived  from  the  prin 
cipal  autograph  collectors  of  the  country,  will  enable  us  to  describe 
them.  The  known  full  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  are  only 
twenty-two,  and  from  the  rarity  of  several  of  the  autographs,  the  num 
ber  can  never  be  very  much  increased,  if  at  all. 

In  noticing  these  several  collections,  it  is  necessary  to  establish 
some  rules  of  precedence.  On  the  whole,  it  would  appear  most 
proper  to  fix  upon  the  number  of  full  autograph  letters  in  a  collection  ; 
though  their  character  and  condition — whether  pretty  uniformly  in 
folio  or  quarto  size — and  the  extent  and  value  of  their  illustrations, 
should  have  their  influence  in  determining  their  relative  standing.  A 
few  collectors  have  made  an  interesting  consideration  of  enhanced 
interest  and  value,  of  letters  bearing  date  in  the  Declaration  year,  1776. 

In  view  of  the  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  in  making  a  com- 


60  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

plete  collection  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration,  it  is  not  a  little  sin 
gular  that  more  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution  have  not  been 
brought  together.  The  Declaration  Signers  number  fifty-six — those  of 
the  Constitution  only  thirty-nine  ;  so  there  are  only  about  two-thirds 
as  many  of  the  latter  as  of  the  former,  and  none  of  them  so  practi 
cally  unobtainable  as  are  several  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration. 
While  the  statistics  show  twenty-two  sets  of  the  Declaration  Signers, 
but  nineteen  full  sets  of  the  Constitution  Signers  have  as  yet  been 
brought  together. 

OTHER   COLLECTIONS    OF   DECLARATION    SIGNERS. 

I. — DR.  THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET,  New  York.  His  best  set — for  he 
has  four — takes  precedence  by  common  consent.  It  includes  fifty-four 
full  autograph  letters  of  the  fifty-six  Signers,  the  only  exceptions  being 
very  fine  specimens  of  autograph  documents  signed  of  both  Hart  and 
Gwinnett.  OfGwinnett,  no  known  full  letter  is  extant.  Of  the  fifty- 
six  autographs  of  the  set,  fifty-one  pertain  to  the  Revolutionary  period 
— only  Morton,  Wythe,  and  Heyward  not  ranking  as  such,  while  Hart 
and  Gwinnett  are  documents  ;  and  of  these  fifty-one  Revolutionary 
letters,  thirty- one  were  written  during  1776,  a  number  of  them  refer 
ring  to  the  great  Declaration.  Four  of  the  letters  bear  date  in  the 
Declaration  month  of  that  year, — Clark's,  July  uth  ;  F.  L.  Lee's,  the 
1 6th  ;  Wilson's,  the  25th  ;  and  Hewes,  the  28th. 

The  pre-eminent  specimen  of  the  collection,  which  stands  unmatched 
and  unapproachable,  is  the  unquestioned  genuine  Lynch  letter, 
addressed  to  Gen.  Washington,  July  5,  1777,  having  the  General's 
endorsement  on  the  back  in  his  well-known  handwriting,  obtained 
from  the  Washington  Papers  by  Dr.  Sprague,  who  conveyed  it  to  Dr. 
Emmet  in  an  exchange  of  autographs,  practically  costing  the  latter 
some  seven  hundred  dollars.  The  next  great  rarity  of  the  set  is  a  full 
Morton  letter,  formerly  of  Col.  Myers"  collection,  of  which  only  one 
other  full  letter  of  that  Signer  is  known  to  exist,  that  of  Mr.  Stauffer, 
and  an  unsigned  one  in  the  Raffles'  set.  Full  letters  of  Heyward  and 
Middleton  also  grace  the  collection. 

This  fine  set  was  originally  placed  in  what  is  now  Dr.  Emmet's 
second  collection,  so  largely  'illustrated  'as  to  extend  to  twenty  bound 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  6 1 

volumes  ;  but  Dr.  Emmet,  on  further  thought,  fearing  the  valuable 
autographs  composing  it  would  be  measurably  lost  sight  of  while 
scattered  among  such  a  profusion  of  illustrative  matter,  concluded  to 
replace  it  with  a  less  important  set,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  give  to  his 
best  collection  of  the  Signers  a  more  conspicuous  exhibition,  which  it 
so  richly  deserves,  illustrating  it  with  suitable  portrait  engravings,  short 
printed  sketches  of  the  several  Signers,  and  fac-similes  of  autographs, 
etc.  It  is  not  yet  bound,  awaiting  other  possible  changes  for  the 
better. 

To  give  some  idea  of  the  cost  of  such  indulgences  :  "In  one  way  or 
another,"  writes  Dr.  Emmet,  "I  have  spent  some  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  on  the  set,  and  have  not  yet  gotten  it  to  my  satisfaction."  This 
was  written  before  he  had  detached  this  best  set  from  the  multitudinous 
collection  of  illustrations  in  the  twenty  volumes  now  comprising  the 
second  set,  and  this  estimate  of  cost  includes  those  numerous  and 
interesting  illustrations.  All  will  agree  that  the  right  man  undertook 
this  herculean  labor,  and  has  never  faltered  for  a  moment  in  its  prose 
cution. 

But  Dr.  Emmet's  four  full  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  his  collection  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution, 
are  by  no  means  the  only  autograph  groupings  he  has  made.  His 
tastes,  it  will  be  seen,  lead  him  to  profusely  and  tastefully  illustrate 
them  all.  His  entire  collection  numbers  fifty-three  volumes,  divided 
into  the  following  groups  or  series  : 

1.  The  best  set  of  Signers  of  the   Declaration   of  Independence, 
unbound,  at  least  one  volume. 

2.  His  second  set  of  Signers,  already  described,  twenty  volumes. 

3.  The  Continental  Congress,  1774-1789,  of  whose  membership  Dr. 
Emmet  has  autographs  of  over  three  hundred  and  sixty  ;  illustrated  by 
two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  portraits,   having  had  several  specially 
made  for  this  purpose — seventy-two  of  the  whole  number  are  believed 
to  be  without  likenesses.     This  group  includes  his  third  set  of  the 
Signers.     Dr.  Emmet  has  been  many  years  engaged  on  this  collection 
— gathering  materials  for  a  biographical  sketch  of  each  member,  to  be 
printed  especially  for  this  series  ;    and  when  thus  completed,   it  will 
embrace  six  volumes,  a  wonderful  collection,  including  a  large  amount 
of  American  biography  to  be  found  nowhere  else. 


62  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

4.  The  fourth  set  of  the  Signers  is  nicely  arranged  with  Sanderson's 
Lives  of  the  Signers,  of  which  Dr.  Emmet  has  one  of  the  few  large 
paper  copies,  in  eight  volumes,  fully  illustrated. 

5.  The  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  already   adverted    to,    in    one 
volume. 

6.  The  Albany  Congress  of  1754,  twenty-five  members,  representing 
seven   Colonies,    in   one  volume.     The  printed   illustrative  matter  is 
from  the  second  volume  of  Documentary  History  of  New  Fork,  and 
from  Sir  William  Johnson's  papers,  giving  an  account  of  that  Congress. 

7.  The  Stamp  Act  Congress,   1765,   twenty-three  members,   repre 
senting  nine  Colonies,  one  volume.     The   printed   matter  has  been 
taken  from  Hughes'  account  in  the  second  volume  of  Hazard's  Register, 
originally  appearing  in  Almon's  Prior  Documents,  p.  45,  et  seq.,  and 
includes  the  credentials  and  journals. 

8.  The  first  Continental  Congress,   1774,  fifty-two  members,   repre 
senting  twelve  Colonies,  one  volume.     With  this  set  of  autographs  of 
the  delegates,  Henry  Armitt  Brown's  oration  on  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  meeting  of  this  Congress,  was  inlaid,  with  the  addi 
tion  of  specially  printed  matter  appropriate  to  the  collection. 

9.  Signers  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  1778,  forty-one  auto 
graphs,  representing  thirteen  Colonies,  one  volume. 

10.  The  Generals  of  the  Revolution,  both  Continental  and   State, 
eighty-six  specimens.     This  collection  has  been  brought  together  with 
the   greatest   care,  so   that  there    is   scarcely   an  autograph  which  is 
not   of  especial    historical    value.       Grisvvold's    Washington   and  his 
Generals,   in    two   volumes,    has    been    brought    into    requisition    for 
this  group,  all  inlaid,  and  extended  to  eight  folio  volumes,  illustrated 
with  portraits,  newspapers  of  the  day,  and   three   hundred  and   forty- 
one  autographs. 

11.  Presidents  of  the  Old  Congress,  and  Presidents  and  Vice-Presi 
dents  of  the  United   States,  nearly  fifty  fine  specimens,  one  volume. 
Dr.    Emmet   wrote,    and    had    printed    for   this   collection,   a  sketch 
of  each    President  of  Congress,  etc.,  on  a   single    page,  to   face   the 
autograph  and  engraving. 

12.  Paper   money   issued    by  the   Colonies,    about    two    thousand 
specimens,  all  inlaid,  with  a  printed  account  of  each  issue,  extended 
to  three  volumes. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  63 

13.  Paper  money  issued  by  Congress.  Samuel  Breck's  Historical 
Sketch  of  Paper  Money,  1843,  as  republished  in  1863,  with  an  appen 
dix  giving  in  full  the  issues  and  denominations,  used  as  the  basis 
for  this  collection,  inlaid  to  folio  size,  and  illustrated,  one  volume. 

All  these  volumes  have  special  title-pages  printed  for  them,  with 
printed  text,  head  and  tail  pieces. 

Dr.  Emmet  was  born  near  Charlottesville,  Virginia,  May  29,  1828. 
His  father,  John  P.  Emmet,  was  then,  and  for  a  period  of  nineteen 
years,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  History  in  the  University  of 
Virginia.  Dr.  Emmet's  grandfather,  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  with  his 
famous  brother,  Robert  Emmet,  were  noted  leaders  in  the  movements 
of  the  "United  Irishmen  "  in  1798  ;  and  again  in  1803,  Robert,  the 
younger,  losing  his  young  life  in  the  heroic  effort  to  obtain  freedom 
for  his  distracted  country.  Thomas  Addis  Kmmet,  the  patriot  leader, 
was  long  imprisoned  ;  but  was  finally  liberated,  settled  in  New  York 
City  in  1804,  where  in  the  ensuing  twenty-three  years  he  rose  to  great 
eminence  at  the  bar. 

While  Dr.  Emmet  has  long  been  ranked  among  the  ablest  members 
of  the  medical  profession  in  New  York  City,  it  is  especially  as  an 
autograph  collector  that  he  stands  pre-eminent.  He  began  the  collec 
tion  of  autographs  and  illustration  of  books  at  the  early  age  of  twelve, 
and  commenced  the  formation  of  his  first  set  of  the  Signers  about  1860, 
since  which  he  has  prosecuted  the  collection  of  American  autographs 
with  unusual  ardor  and  remarkable  success. 

During  the  past  twenty-five  years,  probably  more  autographs  of  the 
Signers  have  passed  through  his  hands  than  those  of  any  one  else  in 
the  country  ;  and  while  he  has  been  able  to  improve  his  own  collec 
tions,  he  has  supplied  other  collectors  with  more  than  a  single  speci 
men  of  all  the  Signers,  save  perhaps  those  of  Lynch  and  Gwinnett. 
He  has  thus  proved  himself  a  public  benefactor — well  worthy  of  the 
high  honor  Mr.  Burns  designed  to  ascribe,  when  referring  to  him  as 
"  the  Premier  American  Autographer.  " 

II. — SIMON  GRATZ,  of  Philadelphia.  In  1856,  at  the  age  of  seven 
teen,  an  accidental  search  among  an  accumulation  of  family  papers  in 
his  native  city  of  Philadelphia,  gave  Mr.  Gratz  a  taste  for  gathering 
autographs,  which  he  has  prosecuted  for  thirty  years  with  rare  discrim 
ination  and  success.  Mr.  Burns,  in  the  Antiquarian,  August,  1870, 


64  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

stated  that  the  collection  of  Mr.  Gratz  of  the  Signers  then  lacked  but 
two  autographs,  and  that  it  was  then  regarded  as  "  a  fine  series."  That 
gap  has  long  since  been  filled,  and  the  whole  set  greatly  improved.  It 
has  now  fifty-three  full  autograph  letters  in  quarto  or  folio  size — the 
other  three  are  Morton,  a  folio  autograph  document  signed  ;  Gwinnett, 
a  very  fine  folio  autograph  document  signed,  and  Lynch,  a  cut  signa 
ture.  It  nearly  equals  Dr.  Emmet's  best  set  in  the  number  of  1776 
letters,  having  twenty-seven — one  of  vhich,  that  of  Wilson,  was  writ 
ten  on  the  memorable  4th  of  July  in  that  year;  and  a  Hancock  letter 
of  July  5th,  1776,  covering  a  copy  of  the  Declaration  to  one  of  the 
States. 

All  the  specimens  are  choice  both  as  regards  matter  and  condition. 
It  is  largely  illustrated  with  portraits  and  views,  as  yet  kept  loose  in 
scrap-books  for  further  possible  improvement.  No  pains  nor  expense 
has  been  spared  to  improve  its  character. 

Mr.  Gratz  needs  only  a  Lynch  to  complete  a  second  set,  which  is 
used  in  his  series  of  the  old  Congress  of  1774-1789.  This  group  of 
the  old  Congress  lacks  but  a  few  names  of  being  complete.  A  dupli 
cate  of  Lynch  he  once  possessed,  but  spared  it  to  a  fellow  collector  to 
round  out  his  set. 

In  addition  to  the  names  contained  in  this  series  of  the  old  Con 
gressmen,  Mr.  Gratz  has  complete  sets  of  A.  L.  S.  of  the  Presidents, 
and  Presidents  pro  tempore  of  the  Continental  Congress,  the  Signers  of 
the  articles  of  Confederation,  the  Congress  of  1774,  excepting  Boerum, 
the  members  of  the  Annapolis  Convention,  and  the  members  of  the 
Federal  Convention.  His  series  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolution  is 
complete,  and  is  composed  entirely  of  A.  L.  S.,  (many  of  them  being 
addressed  to  Gen.  Washington),  with  the  exception  of  Baron  de 
Woedtke,  which  is  L.  S.  4to,  and  John  Whitcomb,  A.  D.  S.,  folio. 
He  also  has  complete  sets  of  the  Albany  Convention  of  1754,  the 
Stamp  Act  Congress  of  1765,  the  Hartford  Convention,  the  Presidents, 
Vice-Presidents,  and  Cabinet  officers,  Bishops  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
complete  to  1877,  moderators  of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly, 
complete  to  1882,  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
Speakers  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  Presidents  pro  tern,  of 
the  United  States  Senate. 

His  collection  of  names  of  the  Colonial  period  embraces  most  of  the 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  65 

Royal  Governors,  and  of  the  persons  who  were  prominent,  on  either 
side,  in  the  French  and  Indian  wars. 

He  has  letters  of  nearly  all  the  Colonels,  and  noted  officers  of  lower 
rank,  of  the  Continental  Army,  1775  to  1783,  most  of  the  French 
officers  who  served  during  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  of  the  Generals, 
and  many  of  the  lesser  officers,  who  served  on  the  British  side. 

His  series  of  letters  and  MSS.  of  Washington  contain  specimens  of 
the  handwriting  of  "  the  Father  of  his  country  "  from  boyhood  to  the 
year  of  his  death  ;  as  well  as  letters  of  his  mother,  Mary  Washington, 
and  of  Martha,  his  wife,  his  brother,  Lawrence,  etc.,  etc.  The  total 
number  of  Washington  letters  in  the  collection  is  eighty-eight,  aside 
from  many  A.  D.  S.  and  MS.  documents. 

The  rest  of  the  American  portion  of  the  large  collection  of  Mr. 
Gratz  covers  a  wide  field,  including  naval  officers,  from  the  Revolu 
tionary  period  to  the  close  of  the  civil  war ;  Generals  and  officers  of 
the  war  of  1812,  the  Mexican  war,  and  the  Civil  war;  literary  char 
acters,  from  John  Eliot,  of  "Indian  Bible"  fame,  and  William  Hub- 
bard,  the  historian  of  the  New  England  Indian  wars,  to  the  writers  of 
the  present  day  ;  United  States  Senators,  Governors,  artists,  actors, 
scientists,  Washington's  Aides-de-camp,  and  a  remarkably  full  series  of 
the  American  clergy,  commencing  with  the  earliest  Colonial  names, 
etc.,  etc. 

His  foreign  collection  numbers  about  ten  thousand  letters  and  docu 
ments,  and  embraces  series  of  the  European  Emperors,  Kings,  and 
Queens,  the  poets  and  prose  writers  of  Great  Britain  and  Continental 
Europe,  and  of  the  most  noted  warriors,  statesmen,  philosophers,  artists, 
composers,  men  of  science,  etc.,  etc.,  who  flourished  during  the  last  four 
centuries.  Most  of  the  names  are  represented  by  A.  L.  S. — among 
the  rarer  of  which  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  Macchiavelli,  Saint  Vincent  de  Paul,  Ninon  de 
Lenclos,  Massillon,  Spinola,  Catherine  de  Parthenay,  the  Huguenot 
heroine,  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Stafford,  beheaded  on  Tower 
Hill,  the  first  Duke  of  Buckingham,  assassinated  by  Felton,  and 
Richard  Bentley,  the  great  classical  scholar  ;  the  composers,  Mozart, 
Handel,  and  Bach  ;  the  painters,  Rubens,  Poussin,  and  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  ;  the  philosophers  and  astronomers,  Galileo,  Kepler,  Heve- 
lius,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Robert  Boyle,  and  Halley ;  the  reformers, 


66  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Luther,  Calvin,  Melanchthon,  Brentz,  Bullinger,  and  Guillaume  Farel ; 
the  French  revolutionists,  Robespierre  and  Marat  ;  the  poets  and 
prose-writers,  Robert  Burns,  Richard  Baxter,  Byron,  Charlotte  Bronte, 
Madame  D'Arblay,  Edward  Gibbon,  John  Keats,  John  Locke,  Alex 
ander  Pope,  Tobias  Smollett,  Percy  B.  Shelley,  Jonathan  Swift,  Jeremy 
Taylor,  and  Sir  Henry  Wotton. 

As  a  judge  of  the  genuineness  of  American  autographs,  particularly 
of  the  Signers,  Mr.  Gratz  stands  unrivaled. 

III. — FERDINAND  J.  DREER,  of  Philadelphia.  Born  in  that  city, 
March  2,  1812.  Mr.  Dreer  was  for  many  years  laboriously  engaged  as 
an  assayer  and  manufacturer  of  gold  ware,  retiring  from  active  business 
in  1862.  At  twenty-two  he  broke  down  from  over-work,  and  has  ever 
since  been  in  feeble  health  ;  yet  since  he  commenced  his  autograph 
gatherings,  about  1849,  ne  nas  f°und  pleasant  employment  in  collect 
ing,  repairing  and  arranging  his  thousands  of  rare  letters  of  both  hemi 
spheres,  and  illustrating  his  books  and  manuscripts,  giving  occupation 
to  both  body  and  mind,  and,  as  he  believes,  prolonging  his  days. 

Mr.  Dreer's  set  of  the  Signers,  like  the  collection  of  Mr.  Gratz, 
numbers  fifty-three  full  autograph  letters.  It  has  been  selected  and 
improved  with  great  care  and  expense.  The  three  specimens  of  the 
set  not  A.  L.  S.,  are  Morton,  A.  D.  S.,  Gwinnett,  D.  S.,  and  Lynch, 
a  cut  signature.  Next  to  the  sets  of  Dr.  Emmet  and  Mr.  Gratz,  Mr. 
Dreer's  is  the  strongest  extant  in  1776  letters,  having  twenty-one  speci 
mens,  no  less  than  seven  of  which  were  written  during  the  month  of 
July  of  that  year — Rutledge  on  the  ist,  Clark  on  the  immortal  4th, 
John  Adams  on  the  5th,  Hancock  on  the  pth  and  24th,  Hewes  on  the 
24th,  and  Thornton  on  the  27th.  The  Adams  letter  came  from  Mr. 
Tefft's  incomplete  set,  and  is  noticed  in  Dr.  Gilman's  paper  on  the 
Tefft  autographs. 

Such  of  these  as  needed  it  were  carefully  repaired,  and  are  kept  in 
cases,  without  yet  having  determined  their  final  grouping.  Mr.  Dreer 
has  fifty-one  letters  and  signed  documents  towards  a  second  set,  and 
forty  towards  a  third. 

His  collection  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  limited  to  those 
who  actually  signed  the  document,  are  all  A.  L.  S.,  and  is  a  very  fine 
one. 

Besides  these,  Mr.  Dreer  has  no  less  than  seventy  original  letters  of 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  67 

Washington,  from  the  earliest  date  to  the  time  of  his  death,  remarkably 
complete  and  interesting — undoubtedly  the  largest  accumulation  of 
Washington  letters  extant  next  to  that  of  Mr.  Gratz,  outside  of  the 
Washington  papers  preserved  by  the  Government.  He  has  also  over 
forty  letters  of  William  Penn  and  family  ;  a  large  number  of  Franklin; 
no  less  than  thirty  of  Jefferson  ;  and  eleven  of  Edward  Rutledge, 
written  between  1792  and  1797.  These  Washington,  Penn,  and 
Franklin  letters  are  exclusive  of  those  utilized  in  various  book  illustra 
tions. 

In  addition  to  his  own  varied  acquisitions,  Mr.  Dreer  obtained,  some 
thirty  years  since,  the  rich  collection  of  the  late  Robert  Gilmor,  of 
Baltimore — including  his  set  of  autographs  of  the  Signers,  and  his 
especially  rich  array  of  foreign  autographs,  comprising  the  most  cele 
brated  sovereigns  of  Europe,  with  all  the  most  distinguished  generals, 
naval  commanders,  statesmen,  reformers,  authors,  artists,  scientists, 
composers,  musicians,  inventors,  astronomers,  explorers  and  travelers. 

Among  the  set  of  musicians,  are  Handel,  Hayden,  Beethoven,  Mo 
zart,  and  Bach — all  A.  L.  S. ;  astronomers,  Galileo,  Kepler,  the  elder 
Herschel,  son  and  daughter,  all  A.  L.  S. ;  reformers,  Calvin,  Luther, 
Melanchthon,  and  De  Beza,  fine  A.  L.  S. ;  also  four  of  Cowper,  four  of 
Pope,  four  of  Burns,  two  of  Gray,  and  others  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren, 
Thomson,  Gay,  Byron,  Shelley,  Campbell,  and  Leigh  Hunt's  original 
of  Abou  Ben  Adhem  ;  James  1st,  of  England  ;  Henry  Vllth  ;  Henry 
IVth,  of  France;  and  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam. 

In  1857,  Wm.  Brotherhead  wrote,  and  privately  printed,  an  edition 
of  twenty-five  copies  of  a  visit  to  Mr.  Dreer's  autograph  collection.  It 
is  in  small  folio  size  ;  and  three  pages  of  the  fifteen  descriptive  of  all 
the  groupings,  are  devoted  to  the  American  portion,  while  twelve  are 
given  to  the  foreign.  It  is  a  very  interesting  exhibition  of  a  noble 
gathering  of  autographs,  sparkling  with  gems  of  many  a  noted  man 
and  woman  of  both  continents. 

Many  patient  years  has  Mr.  Dreer  spent  in  arranging,  repairing  and 
pressing  his  autographs,  and  adding  fly  leaves  for  their  protection. 
He  devotes  more  hours  to  these  interesting  labors  than  he  ever  did  to 
the  acquisition  of  wealth.  His  avarice  is  limited  to  the  accumulation 
of  autographs,  and  grouping  and  improving  them  for  noble  and  useful 
purposes.  Though  in  feeb'e  health,  he  declares  that  his  love  for  col- 


68  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

lecting  and  repairing  autographs,  and  illustrating  books  has  added 
largely  to  his  happiness  as  well  as  augmenting  his  days. 

IV. — The  late  Prof.  EDWARD  H.  LEFFINGWELL,  son  of  William  and 
Sally  Maria  Beers  Leffingwell,  was  born  in  New  Haven,  April  15,  1803. 
He  was  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1822,  and  two  years  later  was 
graduated  in  medicine.  In  1825,  he  went  to  Lima,  South  America, 
remaining  there  three  years  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  when  he 
removed  to  Lambayque,  in  Northern  Peru,  where  he  resided  six 
years.  Returning  to  the  United  States  in  1834,  he  received  the 
appointment  of  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  History  in  the 
University  of  Missouri ;  and,  in  1836,  he  visited  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
the  next  year  returning  to  his  native  country,  located  awhile  at  Bruns 
wick,  Maine,  with  a  view  of  more  thoroughly  prosecuting  the  study  of 
physical  science,  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  Parker  Cleveland,  of 
Bowdoin  College.  Returning  to  St.  Louis,  he  resumed  his  chair  in 
the  University  ;  and  after  nearly  nine  years'  connection  with  that 
institution,  owing  to  ill-health,  he  resigned  in  1852.  He  subse 
quently  accepted  the  chair  of  Chemistry  and  Toxicology  in  the  Medi 
cal  College  of  Memphis,  Tenn.  ;  but  the  condition  of  his  health  did 
not  admit  his  long  continuance  there. 

From  1855  to  1863,  he  resided  in  Boston  ;  after  which  he  made  his 
home  in  New  Haven.  He  commenced  his  autograph  collections  upon 
his  settlement  in  Boston,  where  he  purchased,  at  a  cost  of  some  two 
thousand  dollars,  the  fine  set  of  the  Signers  made  by  Hon.  Mellen  Cham 
berlain,  together  with  other  commenced  series,  and  many  foreign  auto 
graphs.  This  set  of  the  Signers  are  all  in  folio  size,  save  that  of 
Middleton,  which  is  a  quarto.  Mr.  Burns  pronounces  it  "a  fine" 
one.  In  1857,  it  lacked  only  the  autograph  of  Paca,  which  was 
soon  after  supplied.  It  numbers  fifty-one  A.  L.  S.  ;  of  the  remaining 
five,  Hart  and  Morton  are  A.  D.  S.  ;  Hopkins,  L.  S.  ;  Gwinnett,  D.  S., 
and  Lynch,  a  single  signature.  The  set  has  several  1776  letters,  and 
is  unbound,  preserved  in  cases,  and  copiously  illustrated  with  por 
traits  and  engravings,  biographical  and  historical  cuttings. 

Besides  his  full  set  of  the  Declaration  Signers,  he  gathered  also  an 
incomplete  set,  and  two  full  collections  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitu 
tion  ;  he  also  brought  together  a  set  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolution  ; 
Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  United  States  from  Washington 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  69 

to  Buchanan  inclusive,  with  the  heads  of  departments,  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  Ministers  to  Foreign  Courts  ;  Protestant  Episcopal 
Bishops,  from  Seabury  to  Green,  with  many  eminent  American  clergy 
men  and  literary  characters.  He  had  also  a  fine  set  of  English  sover 
eigns  from  Henry  IV.,  with  two  exceptions,  to  Queen  Victoria ;  and 
of  the  English  Premiers,  from  1754  to  Lord  Beaconsfield,  with  a  single 
exception.  He  had  also  autographs  of  Shakespeare,  it  is  said,  but 
which  is  presumably  doubtful,  of  Bacon,  Cromwell,  Raleigh,  Lady 
Jane  Gray,  Newton,  Cowper,  Dryden,  Goldsmith,  Burns,  Byron,  and 
other  English  notabilities,  together  with  many  illustrious  names  of 
French  royalty  and  nobility,  and  of  other  portions  of  Continental 
Europe. 

Professor  Leffingwell  died  at  New  Haven,  June  25,  1888,  in  his 
eighty-sixth  year,  leaving  his  noble  collection  of  autographs  to  his 
niece,  Miss  Mary  Matilda  Leffingwell,  of  that  city. 

V. — DR.  JOHN  S.  H.  FOGG,  Boston,  Mass.  Dr.  Fogg  was  born  in 
Eliot,  York  County,  Maine,  May  21,  1826,  and  commenced  picking 
up  autographs  about  the  time  of  his  graduation  from  college,  in  1846, 
making  quite  a  collection  of  old  commissions,  etc.  He  recommenced 
their  gathering  in  1858,  and  for  a  year  or  two  collected  quite  a  goodly 
number. 

In  1873,  he  was  prostrated  by  paralysis,  and  has  ever  since  been 
confined  to  his  room,  a  constant  sufferer.  Recovering  somewhat  from 
this  attack,  he  turned  his  attention,  in  1875,  to  forming  a  set  of  the 
Signers,  of  which  he  already  had  a  few  specimens.  He  consummated 
the  collection  in  1881 — a  wonderfully  short  period  for  such  a  difficult 
accomplishment.  Many  of  these  specimens  he  has  since  very  materi 
ally  improved. 

Mr.  Burns  declares  it  "really  a  fine  set,"  which  its  composition 
proves.  It  is  made  up  of  fifty  A.  L.  S.  ;  Heyward  and  Middleton,  L.  S.  ; 
Hart,  Morton,  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S. ;  and  Lynch,  a  cut  signature.  It 
presents  an  unusually  strong  array  of  letters  written  during  the  Revolu 
tionary  period,  numbering  forty-five  A.  L.  S.,  and  two  others,  L.  S. ; 
of  which  nineteen  were  written  in  Independence  year,  1776 — three  in 
July,  Witherspoon's  the  3d,  Clark's  the  9th,  and  Hopkinson's  the  23d. 
Such  letters  as  needed  it  have  been  thoroughly  repaired  ;  all  are 
mounted  on  a  fly  in  a  wrapper,  and  the  illustrations  are  mounted  in 


70  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

the  same  wrapper.  These  illustrations  consist  of  engravings  or  etchings 
of  all  the  Signers  save  Morton  ;  of  some  there  are  several  different 
likenesses,  together  with  Brotherhead's  fac-similes  and  views.  As  yet 
they  are  unbound,  awaiting  still  further  possible  improvement. 

Dr.  Fogg  lacks  but  two,  Howard  and  Barnes,  of  a  complete  set  of 
the  Albany  Congress  of  1754,  and  but  two,  Murdock  and  Lynch, 
Sr.,  of  a  full  set  of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress,  1765.  He  has  also 
a  second  collection  of  the  Declaration  Signers,  lacking  Lynch  only, 
included  in  his  series  of  the  Old  Congress,  ij'j^-^g,  which  wants  but 
thirty-five  of  the  whole  number  of  about  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
five. 

Besides  his  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  he  has  a  collection 
of  the  members  of  the  Annapolis  Convention  of  1786  ;  the  Colonial 
and  State  Governors  of  Massachusetts  ;  members  of  the  famous  Hart 
ford  Convention  ;  all  of  the  thirty-eight  Major-Generals  of  the  Revo 
lution,  and  all  save  eight  of  the  ninety  Brigadier-Generals  ;  Washing 
ton's  Aids,  with  two  exceptions  ;  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of 
the  United  States,  with  cabinet  officers — each  Administration  by  itself. 
In  all  these  series  no  letter  plays  a  double  part ;  and  all  the  series  are 
well  illustrated  with  engravings. 

"  Here  I  am,"  writes  Dr.  Fogg,  "sitting  in  my  chair,  utterly  help 
less,  and  often  distracted  with  pain,  as  I  have  been  for  more  than 
thirteen  years.  I  don't  know  how  I  could  make  life  tolerable  were 
it  not  for  the  pleasure  these  autographs  afford  me.  I  take  com 
fort  in  collecting,  arranging  and  repairing  them,  associated  with  my 
companion,  whose  tastes  in  these  directions  are  in  harmony  with 
mine ;  for  we  work  together  in  repairing  old  letters,  matching  the 
paper  used,  imitating  water  marks,  texture,  color,  and  other  par 
ticulars — mounting  them  to  a  uniform  size,  and  inlaying  small  por 
traits  to  the  same  dimension.  Mrs.  Fogg  in  all  these  labors,  is 
equally  enthusiabth  with  me.  Thus,  you  see,  I  have  some  blessings 
in  my  cup  of  afflictions,  and  they  are  of  a  magnitude  sufficient 
to  reconcile  me  to  my  lot,  if  anything  could  do  it.  I  have  now  some 
four  or  five  thousand  or  more  autographs  altogether." 

VI. — STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  Madison,  Wis.  This  collection 
has  been  some  twenty-five  years  in  accumulating — originating,  in 
1856,  in  a  donation  of  autographs  of  Samuel  Adams,  Floyd,  Lewis, 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  /I 

Robert  Morris,  McKean,  R.  H.  Lee,  Jefferson,  as  well  as  R.  R.  Liv 
ingston,  and  Charles  Thomson,  from  the  late  Hon.  Henry  S.  Randall. 
It  was  some  time  thereafter  before  the  idea  of  completing  a  full  set 
was  resolved  on,  and  the  full  quota  was  made  up  in  1881,  with  subse 
quent  improvements.  While  the  collection  is  not  strong  in  historical 
documents  of  the  Revolution,  it  takes  high  rank  in  embracing  so 
many  full  autograph  letters — fifty  A.  L.  S. ;  Hart,  A.  D.  S. ;  Morton, 
Heyward,  Middleton,  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S. ;  and  Lynch,  an  inlaid  cut 
signature.  It  is  illustrated  with  one  or  more  engravings  or  etchings  of 
all  the  Signers  save  Morton,  with  Brotherhead's  views  •acci&fac-similes, 
and  other  appropriate  matter. 

The  gift  of  the  Hon.  H.  S.  Randall  of  one  hundred  American  auto 
graphs  to  the  Society  in  1856,  laid  the  foundation  of  other  series 
besides  that  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  We 
have  now  a  full  set  of  the  thirty-nine  Signers  of  the  Constitution, 
including  their  Secretary,  William  Jackson,  all  A.  L.  S.,  with  appro 
priate  illustrations  ;  a  nearly  complete  set  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Old 
Congress,  and  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
together  with  a  portion  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  Gov 
ernors  of  Wisconsin.  These  constitute  the  autograph  collections 
proper  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society. 

VII. — MR.  CHARLES  ROBERTS,  of  Philadelphia.  His  ancestors 
migrated  from  Wales  to  Pennsylvania  about  1695.  Mr.  Roberts  was 
born  in  Philadelphia  in  1846,  and,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  entered 
Haverford  College,  and  while  there  commenced  gathering  autographs 
in  a  small  way.  After  graduating,  he  added  little  to  his  collections 
until  about  the  time  of  the  Centennial.  He  was  an  original  member 
of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  a  city  reformatory  body  who  did 
good  work  in  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  is  serving  his  third  term 
in  the  Common  Council.  He  was  for  many  years  a  partner  in  one  of 
the  largest  glass  manufacturing  establishments  in  the  country,  from 
which  he  retired  in  1885.  He  is  a  member  of  the  council  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  Historical  Society,  one  of  the  managers  of  Haveiford  Col 
lege,  and  of  several  charitable  institutions.  He  finds  time  to  indulge 
in  the  fascinating  pursuit  of  gathering  and  arranging  autographs.  He 
had  made  a  fine  collection  of  the  Signers,  lacking  Lynch  only,  with 
other  series,  when  he  recently  purchased  the  entire  collection,  one  of 


72  AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS. 

the  best  in  the  country,  gathered  by  the  late  Robert  C.  Davis,  of  Phila 
delphia,  which  not  only  enabled  him  to  complete  and  improve  his  own 
set,  but  to  place  it  considerably  higher  in  rank  than  that  occupied  by 
Mr.  Davis' collection.  As  now  improved,  Mr.  Roberts' set  of  the  Signers 
embraces  forty-nine  A.  L.  S.  ;  Hart,  Morton,  and  Heyward,  A.  D.  S.  ; 
Livingston,  L.  S.  ;  Middleton  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S.  ;  and  Lynch,  a  fine 
cut  signature  which  came  from  Mr.  Tefft  to  the  late  Mr.  Davis. 
Thirty-six  of  the  number  were  written  during  the  Revolutionary 
period,  of  which  those  of  Clark,  Franklin,  R.  Morris,  Wilson,  and 
Hewes  were  penned  during  1776. 

In  the  estimation  of  some  of  our  best  autograph  judges,  Mr. 
Roberts'  set  of  the  Signers,  as  now  improved,  takes  very  high  rank  on 
account  of  the  fine  condition  and  beauty  of  many  of  the  rare  specimens, 
such  as  that  of  Lyman  Hall,  which  is  a  superb  folio ;  and  that  of 
Joseph  Hewes,  which  is  a  six  page  A.  L.  S.,  dated  Philadelphia,  July 
8th,  1776,  in  which  he  asks,  "What  has  become  of  my  friend 
Hooper?*  .  .  .  My  friend  Penn  came  time  enough  to  give  his 
vote  for  independence, "  etc. 

Mr.  Roberts'  other  series  deserve  special  notice.  He  has  two  full 
sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  one  of  them  including  all  who 
were  chosen,  and  at  any  time  attended,  but  failed  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  opportunity  of  signing  that  instrument ;  all  the  Generals  of  the 
Revolution,  save  Moore  and  de  Borre  ;  a  full  set  of  the  Presidents  and 
their  Cabinets,  together  with  the  Vice-Presidents,  Chief  Justices  and 
Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  nearly  complete  ;  and  only 
wanting  Lynch  of  a  second  set  of  the  Signers,  which  go  to  make  up 
the  series  of  members  of  the  old  Congress,  1774-89. 

VIII. — CHARLES  C.  JONES,  Jr.,  LL. D.,  Augusta,  Georgia.  It  is 
very  fitting  that  Col.  Jones  should  have  made  up  a  set  of  the  Signers. 
Descending  from  a  prominent  Revolutionary  family  of  his  State,  he  was 
born  at  Savannah,  October  28,  1831.  With  a  good  education,  he  is 
well  equipped  for  his  profess  on,  and  for  an  antiquary  and  historian 
as  well — taking  the  very  front  rank,  in  these  particulars,  of  his  fellow 

*  This  would  imply,  notwithstanding  his  biographers  assert  that  Hooper  voted 
for  the  Declaration,  that  he  was  absent  at  the  time  of  the  vote  on  July  2d,  and 
its  proclamation  July  4th  ;  but,  approving  the  measure,  subsequently  signed  this 
great  charter  of  American  freedom. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  73 

citizens  of  Georgia,  and  of  the  Southern  States.  Aside  from  his  numer 
ous  historical,  antiquarian,  and  military  addresses  and  brochures,  in 
pamphlet  form,  his  more  substantial  works,  Historical  Sketch  of 
Chatham  Artillery,  1867;  Historical  Sketch  of  To-mo-chi-chi,  Mico  of 
the  Yamacraws,  1868;  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Tribes,  1873  ;  Siege 
of  Savannah,  1874  ;  Dead  Towns  of  Georgia,  1878  ;  History  of 
Georgia,  in  2  vols.,  1883,  with  two  more  in  preparation,  and  Sketch 
of  Maj.  John  Habersham,  1886,  have  deservedly  given  him  a  high 
reputation. 

In  1866,  he  commenced  collecting  his  first  set  of  the  Signers,  com 
pleting  it  in  1880,  though  improvements  have  been  subsequently  made. 
This  collection,  which  is  really  a  very  fine  one,  consists  of  forty-nine 
full  letters,  with  Stockton  and  Gwinnett,  A.  D.  S. — both  remarkably  fine 
specimens  ;  Livingston,  L.  S.  ;  Morton,  Heyward,  and  Middleton, 
D.  S.  ;  and  Lynch  the  usual  cut  signature.  Thornton,  Whipple,  and 
Hevves  are  1776  letters;  while  those  of  Hancock,  Ellery,  Wolcott, 
Lewis,  Taylor,  Ross,  Rodney,  Paca,  Stone,  Wythe,  Harrison,  Nelson, 
Hooper,  Penn,  Hall  and  Walton,  sixteen  in  number,  were  written 
during  the  Revolutionary  period,  that  of  Hall  in  1777,  on  public 
affairs  and  of  the  highest  interest.  This  series  is  inlaid  on  Whatman 
paper,  and  illustrated  with  the  best  engraved  portraits  extant,  and 
views  of  residences,  etc.,  and  is  neatly  bound  in  two  volumes,  size  of 
page,  1 6  by  12^  inches. 

While  a  student  at  law  in  London,  Mr.  Lynch  wrote  his  name  on 
the  title-pages  of  books  he  purchased,  sometimes  T.  Lynch,  Junr.,  and 
at  other  times  simply  "  Lynch."  Col.  Jones  has  had  the  good  fortune 
to  obtain  one  of  the  former  and  three  of  the  latter  from  a  lineal 
descendant  of  one  of  the  sisters  of  the  Signer,  who  inherited  a  portion 
of  his  library,  and  all  are  genuine  beyond  a  question.  The  T.  Lynch, 
Junr.,  signature,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  others,  represents  the 
Signer  in  Col.  Jones'  best  set  of  the  Signers,  another  in  his  second  set, 
while  the  other  fills  its  place  in  his  set  of  the  Old  Congress.  Thus  all 
are  placed  in  his  collections. 

Col.  Jones  has  a  full   set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  also  of 
the  Presidents  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  of  the  Presidents  and 
Vice-Presidents  of  the  United   States,     nearly  all    A.    L.    S.,   inlaid, 
illustrated,  and  bound. 
6 


74  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

A  complete  set  of  the  Chief  Justices  and  Associate  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  Attorneys-General  of  the  United  States,  is  also 
inlaid,  illustrated  and  bound. 

A  complete  set  of  the  Colonial  and  the  State  Governors  of  Georgia, 
inlaid,  illustrated  and  bound. 

A  complete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Confederate  Constitution,  all 
A.  L.  S.,  inlaid,  illustrated  and  bound. 

His  series  of  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  is  in  an  advanced 
condition,  including  a  "Lynch,"  and  lacking  only  twenty-nine  of 
completion  ;  his  series  of  Confederate  autographs  is  also  well  advanced, 
and  will  embrace  five  volumes.  He  also  has  over  two  hundred 
volumes  of  printed  books,  privately  illustrated  with  maps,  views,  auto 
graphs,  and  portraits,  all  inlaid  and  handsomely  bound,  while  his  exten 
sive  archaeological  collection  embraces  nearly  20,000  objects. 

IX. — MRS.  DAVID  J.  COHEN,  Baltimore.  This  collection  was 
formed  by  the  late  Dr.  Joshua  I.  Cohen,  of  that  city — commenced  in 
1836,  and  completed  in  1850.  A  second  set  was  lacking  only  two 
names  at  the  close  of  1870.  Dr.  Cohen  passing  away,  his  autographs 
came  into  the  possession  of  his  sister-in-law,  the  present  owner.  The 
full  collection  of  the  Signers  consists  of  forty-nine  A.  L.  S.,  with  Thorn 
ton,  Livingston,  Morton,  Wythe,  Middleton  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S.,  and 
Lynch,  as  usual,  a  signature  only.  Among  the  rarities  may  be  men 
tioned  the  full  letters  of  Sherman,  Stockton,  Hart  and  Heyward.  The 
set  is  unbound,  preserved  in  cases,  without  illustrations. 

X. — Hon.  JOHN  BOYD  THACHER,  formerly  State  Senator,  and  Mayor 
of  Albany,  after  many  years'  efforts,  has  gotten  together  a  full  set  of  the 
autographs  of  the  Signers.  Mr.  E.  E.  Sprague,  of  New  York,  son  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  became  possessed  of  one  of  the  three  full  sets 
made  by  his  father,  and  which  was  completed,  as  Hon.  Mellen  Cham 
berlain  believes,  as  early  as  1848.  It  consisted  of  forty  A.  L.  S.,  the 
rest  being  made  up  of  less  valuable  specimens  ;  but  among  them  the 
Lynch  and  Gwinnett  being  both  documents  signed.  The  Lynch  signa 
ture  is  attached  to  a  conveyance  of  land  made  in  1779,  at  Charleston — 
a  counterpart  to  Mr.  Lynch's  deed  of  March  in  that  year  in  the  late 
Col.  Myers'  collection,  from  which  was  detached  a  receipt  which 
represents  Lynch  in  the  collection  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical 
Society.  Mr.  Thacher  and  Mr.  E.  E.  Sprague  were  early  boy  friends, 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS.  75 

and  in  that  way  apparently,  Mr.  Thacher  formed  his  taste  for  auto 
graphs  ;  and  recently,  an  opportunity  occurring,  he  purchased  Mr. 
Sprague's  entire  collection,  and  has  thus  been  enabled  to  complete  and 
enrich  his  set.  As  it  now  stands,  it  numbers  forty-eight  A.  L.  S. ; 
with  Hart,  Morton,  Stone,  and  Gwinnett,  A.  D.  S.  ;  Hopkins,  L.  S.  ; 
and  S.  Adams,  Heyward,  and  Lynch,  D.  S.  Of  these,  five  are  1776 
letters — Williams,  Witherspoon,  Franklin,  R.  H.  Lee,  and  Wythe. 
This  set  has  some  special  merits — the  R.  H.  Lee  letter,  and  those  of 
Lewis,  Witherspoon,  and  Chase,  were  addressed  to  Gen.  Washington, 
and  of  course  were  of  the  rich  selection  made  by  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague 
from  the  Washington  Papers  ;  the  Walton  letter  was  written  to  Gen. 
Lincoln,  complaining  of  his  captivity  ;  the  Rush  letter,  penned  imme 
diately  after  the  death  of  Franklin,  refers  to  the  deathbed  scene  of  that 
great  patriot  and  philosopher. 

This  collection,  yet  unbound,  is  partially  illustrated,  and  Mr.  Thacher 
is  gathering  additional  illustrative  material,  and  designs  securing  draw 
ings  of  a  unique  set  of  plaster  busts  of  the  Signers  made  by  a  genius 
for  the  Centennial,  but  who  failed  to  complete  and  place  them  upon 
the  market. 

Mr.  Thacher  has  autographs  of  about  two-thirds  of  the  members  of 
the  Old  Congress,  1774-89,  of  which  his  duplicate  Signers,  fifty-three 
in  number,  form  a  part ;  and  he  has  also  a  partial  set  of  the  Signers  of 
the  Constitution,  and  some  of  other  American  series. 

XI. — PENNSYLVANIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  Philadelphia.  Some  two 
years  before  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sprague,  Dr.  Emmet  offered 
him  $50  each  for  the  choice  of  certain  specimens  of  his  best  set  of  the 
Signers,  or  $25  each  for  the  whole.  Dr.  Sprague  replied  that  he  had 
no  idea  that  they  could  be  worth  any  such  sum  ;  but  he  could  not  per 
mit  himself  to  think  of  parting  with  them,  as  nearly  all  of  them  had 
been  gifts  from  friends,  and  the  love  of  collecting,  rather  than  dispers 
ing,  was  still  on  him. 

After  thinking  the  matter  over,  however,  he  stated  to  Dr.  Emmet 
that,  as  he  had  done  so  much  more  than  any  one  else  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  the  Signers,  his  set  should  very  properly  be  made  the  best 
— Dr.  Sprague  adding,  that  he  ought  not  to  be  selfish,  and  kindly 
offered  to  exchange  such  specimens  in  his  collection  as  would  improve 
Dr.  Emmet's,  but  would  not  consent  to  sell  them.  This  resulted  in 


76  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

an  exchange — Dr.  Emmet  taking  the  peerless  Lynch  autograph  letter, 
a  Heyward,  a  Middleton,  and  two  others,  promising  to  satisfactorily 
square  the  account  before  Christmas. 

Dr.  Sprague  furnished  fourteen  autographs  of  the  Signers,  not  the 
most  valuable,  and  Dr.  Emmet  supplied  a  Lynch  cut  signature,  and 
forty-one  others,  thus  making  a  full  set — some  of  these  forty-two  Dr. 
Emmet  already  possessed,  while  others  he  purchased  for  this  special 
purpose.  This  collection  was  arranged  with  the  fourth  edition  of 
Sanderson's  Lives  of  the  Signers,  1865,  with  portraits,  views,  and  docu 
ments,  extending  the  whole  to  three  volumes,  bound  in  half  red  levant 
morocco.  Dr.  Emmet  expended  for  the  autographs  he  especially  pur 
chased  for  the  set,  the  inlaying,  binding,  etc.,  only  three  dollars  short 
of  $700,  which  he  regarded  as  practically  the  cost  to  him  of  the  famous 
Lynch  letter.  The  cut  Lynch  signature,  which  Dr.  Emmet  supplied 
for  this  set,  was  subsequently  exchanged  by  Dr.  Sprague  with  Col. 
Myers  for  a  Lynch  signature  attached  to  a  receipt ;  and  Col.  Myers 
having  the  deed  with  Lynch's  autograph  attached,  from  which  the 
receipt  was  taken,  disposed  of  the  Lynch  cut  signature  to  some  other 
collector. 

This  is  the  collection  which  has  since  passed  into  the  possession  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society,  at  a  cost,  it  is  understood,  of  two 
thousand  dollars. 

It  is  pronounced  by  Mr.  Burns,  and  corroborated  by  others  who 
have  seen  it,  as  "a  good  set."  Among  them  is  a  very  fine  letter  of 
Hart  ;  and  six  of  the  letters,  those  of  Carroll,  Read,  Stone,  Harrison, 
Penn,  and  Hall,  are  addressed  to  Washington.  Forty-eight  are  A.  L. 
S.,  while  Livingston  and  Middleton  are  A.  D.  S. ;  Hall,  L.  S.;  Morton, 
Taylor  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S.,  and  Heyward  and  Lynch  are  signatures 
only.  That  of  Wolcott  is  the  only  one  mentioned  as  written  in  1776. 

It  is  proper  to  explain  about  the  Lynch  signature,  as  it  is  not  one  of 
those  cut  from  books.  It  would  seem  that  Dr.  Sprague  obtained  it 
from  Col.  T.  Bailey  Myers,  as  it  has  this  indorsement  written  on  the 
back  :  "  The  original  deed  from  which  this  receipt  is  cut,  executed  by 
Thomas  Lynch  and  wife,  just  prior  to  their  sailing  in  a  vessel,  which 
was  never  heard  of  afterwards,  for  the  restoration  of  his  health,  is  in  my 
collection.  The  signature,  it  will  be  seen,  shows  the  feeble  state  of 
the  writer.  T.  BAILEY  MYERS." 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS,  77 

The  receipt  is  for  _^~io,ooo,  S.  C.  currency,  paid  by  Martin  Savage 
to  Thomas  Lynch. 

As  the  Society  had  perhaps  half  of  the  autographs  of  the  Signers 
before  this  purchase,  they  expect,  by  the  aid  of  these  duplicates,  at 
some  future  day,  to  improve  the  collection.  The  Society  has  no  com 
plete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution. 

XII. — Dr.  EMMET'S  second  set.  This  collection  consists  of  forty- 
four  A.  L.  S. ;  Bartlett,  Thornton,  Hancock,  Hopkins,  Morton,  Tay 
lor,  Rush,  and  Hall,  A.  D.  S. ;  Hart  and  Middleton,  L.  S. ;  Gwin- 
nett,  D.  S. ;  and  Lynch,  cut  signature.  The  autograph  document  of 
Hancock,  a  very  important  historical  one,  bears  date  July  n,  1776  ; 
while  thirty-one  of  the  full  letters  were  written  during  the  Revolution 
ary  period,  of  which  six  bear  date  during  the  Declaration  year,  besides 
Hart's  L.  S. 

This  excellent  set  is  greatly  enhanced  by  the  elaborate  extent  of  its 
illustrations.  Dr.  Emmet's  patience  and  success  in  bringing  together 
his  illustrative  matter  is  not  merely  remarkable,  but  is  truly  wonderful 
— greatly  excelling  any  effort  of  the  kind  ever  attempted.  Taking  the 
historical  matter  of  Sanderson's  Lives  of  the  Signers,  and  the  whole  of 
Brotherhead's  Book  of  the  Signers,  as  the  basis,  all  inlaid  to  folio  size, 
Dr.  Emmet  has  extended  the  work  to  twenty  volumes.  The  illustra 
tions  are  almost  innumerable,  including  twelve  hundred  autographs, 
many  valuable  historical  documents,  old  newspapers,  original  water- 
color  portraits  of  the  Signers,  together  with  a  large  number  of  portraits 
of  the  Revolutionary  period,  many  of  which  are  now  almost  extinct, 
of  persons  mentioned  in  the  papers  or  text,  rare  contemporaneous 
views  of  places,  coats  of  arms  of  States,  and  many  other  appropriate 
illustrations,  all  inlaid  by  Trent  on  Whatman's  drawing  paper,  of  a 
uniform  royal  folio  size.  "When  completed,"  says  Mr.  Burns,  "it 
wiil  be  the  grandest  monument  ever  erected  to  the  memory  of  the 
Signers  by  private  hands  ;  and  on  it  no  expense  has  been  spared,  and 
the  print  collections  of  both  continents  laid  under  heavy  contribu 
tions." 

Among  the  unique  illustrations  of  this  noble  set  of  the  Signers  are 
two  early  printed  broadsides  of  the  Declaration.  One  must  have  been 
issued  as  early  as  July  5,  1776,  as  John  Adams  on  that  day  inclosed  a 
copy  to  a  lady  correspondent,  the  letter  to  whom,  now  in  Mr.  Dreer's 


78  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

collection,  is  copied  into  Dr.  Oilman's  paper  on  the  Tefft  autographs. 
But  the  second  one,  which  was  sent  out  by  order  of  Congress,  January 
18,  1777,  to  each  of  the  States  fora  public  record,  also  in  printed  form, 
is  properly  attested  by  their  own  signs  manual,  by  President  Hancock 
and  Secretary  Thomson.  Both  of  these  broadsides  are  about  fifteen 
by  eighteen  inches  in  size. 

XIII. — The  late  Col.  THEODORUS  BAILEY  MYERS,  of  New  York, 
descended  from  noble  Revolutionary  ancestry,  and  was  born  in  that 
city,  December  I3th,  1821.  After  receiving  a  suitable  education,  he 
studied  law,  and  was  a  member  of  the  military  staff  of  Govs.  Wright 
and  Bouck.  He  raised  a  company  for  the  Mexican  War,  and  on  the 
breaking  out  of  our  Civil  War  he  entered  the  I2th  N.  Y.  regiment, 
and  then  served  on  Gen.  Butler's  staff  as  quartermaster,  and  subse 
quently  on  Gen.  Wool's  military  staff.  He  was  President  of  the 
Sixth  Avenue  R.R. ,  and  was  a  member  of  the  American  Geographi 
cal  Society,  and  of  the  Union  and  Century  Clubs.  He  was  also  a 
director  in  the  Samaritan  Home,  the  Institution  for  the  Blind,  and 
other  humanitarian  societies. 

He  began  to  value  and  collect  historical  documents  when  he 
came  of  age.  His  was  "an  excellent  set"  of  the  Signers,  as  asserted 
by  Mr.  Burns  several  years  since.  In  the  Historical  Magazine  for 
November,  1868,  all  the  letters  and  documents  of  the  collection  were, 
as  it  then  existed,  given  in  extenso.  Col.  Myers  there  says  of  the 
collection:  "It  was  made  without  reference  to  size;  but  the  object 
has  been,  as  far  as  possible,  to  obtain  papers  of  historical  interest." 
He  subsequently  made  many  changes  in  it. 

It  has  one  great  rarity  among  its  illustrations,  of  which  but  one 
other  is  in  private  hands,  that  of  Dr.  Emmet — an  original  printed 
copy  of  the  Declaration,  with  the  signs-manual  of  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  Congress,  perhaps  one  of  those  sent  to  each  of  the 
thirteen  States,  by  order  of  that  body,  January  18,  1777  :  "It  was  for 
many  years, "  says  Col.  Myers,  "the  property  of  a  gentleman  in  the 
South,  from  whom  the  collector  procured  it,  like  the  other  specimens, 
without  'making  a  raid,'  or  incurring  an  obligation  which  he  did  not 
attempt  to  acquit." 

This  Myers'  set  of  the  Signers  numbers  forty-three  A.  L.  S.  ;  with 
Thornton,  Livingston,  Hart,  Morton,  Taylor,  Middleton  and  Wythe, 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  79 

A.  D.  S. ;  Hopkins  and  Smith,  L.  S. ;  Heyward,  Lynch,  Gwinnett  and 
Hall,  D.  S.  The  Lynch  document  is  a  deed  of  land,  dated  March 
3<Dth,  1779,  but  one  other  of  the  kind  is  known  to  be  extant ;  from 
this  Lynch  deed  Col.  Myers  detached  a  receipt  signed  by  Lynch, 
which  was  passed  over  in  exchange  to  Dr.  Sprague,  and  now  forms 
the  Lynch  representation  in  the  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Historical  Society.  Of  the  forty-three  full  letters,  twenty-six  were 
written  during  the  Revolutionary  period  ;  while  seven  of  them  bear 
date  in  1776 — Bartlett,  Whipple,  John  Adams,  Samuel  Adams,  Lewis 
Morris,  Wilson  and  Chase.  Judge  Wilson's  was  written  on  the  4th 
of  July  in  that  year,  recommending  some  company  officers. 

Col.  Myers'  poor  health  forbidding  his  further  attention  to  his 
autographs,  Dr.  Emmet  writes:  "Recently  his  general  collection  has 
been  arranged  and  bound  up  in  seven  volumes  in  alphabetical  order, 
as  he  had  no  series  complete  but  the  Signers.  This  work  has  been 
done  under  my  direction  as  an  old  friend.  I  have  put  the  Signers 
into  a  special  volume  with  their  portraits,  fac-similes  of  their  letters, 
and  one  of  the  broadsides  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  signed 
by  Hancock  and  Thomson,  already  mentioned.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  volume  is  given  a  printed  account  of  the  drawing  up  of  the 
Declaration,  with  an  autograph  and  portrait  of  each  member  of  the 
committee.  There  are  also  an  autograph  and  portrait  of  the  President, 
Secretary  and  Chaplain  of  Congress — then  a  fac-simile  of  the  Decla 
ration,  and  afterwards,  in  their  order,  the  Signers  from  the  different 
States.  The  result  has  been  a  superb  volume,  very  handsomely 
bound — something  which  would  have  given  Col.  Myers  great  satis 
faction  could  he  have  seen  it  in  his  best  days. " 

Col.  Myers  delighted  in  collecting  works  and  manuscripts  illustra 
tive  of  American  history.  For  some  time  before  his  health  failed 
him,  he  was  engaged  on  a  memoir  of  the  members  of  the  New  York 
Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

His  death  resulted  from  a  stroke  of  apoplexy  in  New  York  City, 
June  1 6th,  1888,  in  his  sixty-seventh  year.  He  was  a  man  of  many- 
virtues  and  acquirements,  and  left  his  fine  autograph  collections 
to  his  son  and  daughter,  who  will  no  doubt  highly  prize  so  precious 
an  inheritance. 

XIV.— The  late  JOSEPH  W.  DREXEL,  of  New  York.     This  is  the 


8O  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

second  set  formed  by  Mr.  Tefft,  and  was  purchased,  in  1865,  by 
Almon  W.  Griswold,  of  New  York,  from  Mr.  Tefft's  widow,  and  sub 
sequently  passed  into  Mr.  Drexel's  possession.  It  lacked  Paine,  Smith, 
and  Stone  of  completion,  which  Mr.  Drexel  has  since  supplied,  as  well 
as  otherwise  improved  the  collection.  Thirty-nine  are  A.  L.  S. ;  while 
Hart,  Harrison,  Wythe,  and  Middleton  are  A.  D.  S. ;  Hancock,  Jeffer 
son,  and  Gwinnett,  L.  S.;  Thornton,  Paine,  Hopkins,  Morton,  Taylor, 
Ross,  Stone,  Hey  ward,  and  Walton,  D.  S.,  and  Lynch,  a  cut  signature. 
The  specialty  of  the  collection  is  a  brief  Gwinnett  letter  written  in  1777, 
purchased  at  the  Mickley  sale,  in  Nov.,  1878,  at  a  cost  of  $110.  Some 
one  treated  it  with  a  dose  of  acid,  for  the  purpose  of  darkening  the 
ink,  which  had  become  pale,  and  caused  the  ink  to  spread,  so  that  it 
looked  like  a  letter-press  copy,  thus  unfortunately  injuring  its  appear 
ance.  Mr.  Drexel,  and  perhaps  others,  have  latterly  thought  this  a 
full  autograph  letter ;  but  in  the  Mickley  catalogue  it  was  recorded 
simply  as  an  L.  S. ;  and  a  comparison  of  the  body  of  the  letter  as  given 
in  Brotherhead's  Book  of  the  Signers,  with  the  signature,  and  with  a 
few  lines  written  by  Gwinnett  in  Dr.  Emmet's  collection,  prove  that  it 
is  only  a  signed  letter.  Such  is  the  decided  understanding  of  Messrs. 
Gratz,  Dreer,  Davis,  and  Burns,  who  examined  it  at  the  time  of  the 
Mickley  sale,  and  Messrs.  Emmet,  Fogg,  and  StaufFer  concur  in  this 
opinion.  The  capital  B  and  G  in  the  signature  are  different  from 
those  in  the  body  of  the  letter. 

Five  of  the  full  letters  of  the  collection  were  written  in  1776 — Wol- 
cott,  Livingston,  Clark,  R.  Morris,  and  Wilson — the  latter,  dated  June 
26th,  relates  to  a  debate  in  Congress  on  independence.  The  collection 
is  yet  unbound,  and  is  illustrated  with  engravings  and  etchings  of  the 
Signers,  views,  etc.,  with  printed  biographies. 

Mr.  Drexel  had  also  a  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  and  a 
collection  of  over  thirty  Washington  letters,  including  a  plan  of  his 
Mount  Vernon  estate  drawn  by  himself. 

After  a  long  illness,  Mr.  Drexel  died  in  New  York,  March  25,  1888, 
in  his  fifty-sixth  year.  He  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  January  24,  1833 
— the  youngest  of  the  sons  of  Francis  Martin  Drexel,  the  founder  of 
the  banking  house  of  Drexel  &  Co.,  in  that  city.  He  inherited  his 
father's  love  and  taste  for  music  and  art.  His  collection  of  paintings 
was  valued  at  $500,000  ;  and  his  musical  library  was  the  most  complete 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  8 1 

in  the  country,  which  he  designed  for  one  of  the  public  libraries  of 
New  York.  He  established  soup-houses  for  the  poor,  and  provided  for 
the  wants  of  many  of  the  unfortunate  families  of  convicts  left  destitute, 
and  in  many  other  ways  proved  himself  a  real  lover  of  his  race. 

XV. — Dr.  EMMET'S  third  set.  This  forms  a  portion  of  his  fine 
series  of  members  of  the  Old  Congress,  ryy^'Sg.  They  number 
thirty-nine  A.  L.  S. ;  Thornton,  Whipple,  Paine,  Williams,  Wolcott, 
Hart,  Hopkinson,  Stockton,  Morton,  Taylor,  Read,  and  Wythe  are 
A.  D.  S. ;  L.  Morris,  Heyward,  Middleton,  and  Gwinnett  are  D.  S. ; 
and  Lynch  a  signature,  from  the  Bolton  sale,  originally  from  Mr. 
Tefft.  Sixteen  of  the  full  letters  were  written  during  the  Revolution 
ary  period,  of  which  Witherspoon  and  Hewes  were  penned  in  the  Dec 
laration  year. 

XVI. — STATE  LIBRARY,  Albany,  N.  Y.  This  was  the  first  and  only 
complete  set  formed  by  Mr.  Tefft  ;  and  after  its  purchase,  at  the  Tefft 
sale,  in  March,  1867,  at  $625  by  Mr.  E.  French,  it  was  sold  to  the  State 
of  New  York,  with  only  twenty-seven  full  letters,  for  the  moderate 
sum  of  $800,  the  Legislature  having  made  a  special  appropriation  for 
that  purpose.  Since  it  went  into  the  possession  of  the  State,  a  number 
of  improvements  have  been  made,  by  the  care  and  good  judgment  of 
the  Librarian,  the  late  Dr.  Homes,  in  the  substitution  of  better  speci 
mens,  including  eleven  full  letters.  It  now  numbers  thirty-eight 
A.  L.  S. ;  while  Samuel  Adams,  Paine,  Sherman,  Hart,  Stockton, 
McKean,  Paca,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall,  are  A.  D.  S. ;  Lewis  and  Living 
ston,  L.  S. ;  Thornton,  Hopkins,  Lewis  Morris,  Morton,  Stone  and 
Middleton,  D.  S.,  and  Lynch,  a  cut  signature.  Of  the  full  letters, 
Clark  and  Smith  were  written  in  1776,  and  fifteen  others  during  the 
Revolutionary  period.  The  rarities  of  the  collection  are  the  full  letter 
of  Heyward,  and  the  fine  A.  D.  S.  of  Gwinnett.  The  set  is  nicely 
bound  in  dark  Turkey  morocco,  in  quarto  size,  with  thirty -four 
engraved  likenesses,  and  engravings  of  the  Declaration  ;  and  in  the 
volume  are  included  letters  or  documents  of  R.  R.  Livingston,  John 
Dickinson,  and  Thomas  Willing,  members  of  the  Congress  of  1776, 
but  not  Signers,  and  of  Charles  Thomson,  the  Secretary,  together  with 
one  of  Washington. 

XVII.  —  The  late  MRS.  WM.  D.  ELY,  Providence,  R.  I.  This  col 
lection  was  made  by  Mrs.  Eliza  H.  Allen,  a  daughter  of  Welcome 


82  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Arnold,  of  Providence,  a  descendant  of  the  first  Governor  Green,  of 
the  Colonial  days  of  Rhode  Island.  She  was  born  in  Providence, 
October  5,  1796  ;  and  was  united  in  marriage  to  Hon.  Zachariah 
Allen,  LL. D.,  of  that  city.  Mrs.  Allen  inherited  from  childhood 
many  old  ancestral  papers,  which  inspired  in  her  an  early  love  for 
autographs.  She  must  have  commenced  her  set  of  the  Signers  not 
very  long  after  Dr.  Sprague,  and  by  indefatigable  industry  she  suc 
ceeded  in  securing  her  group  of  autographs,  without  the  necessity  of 
purchasing  many  of  them,  as  at  that  early  day  they  had  not,  to  any 
extent,  become  a  marketable  commodity.  She  substantially  com 
pleted  her  collections  before  1850 — her  full  set  of  the  Signers  some 
what  earlier.  She  has  the  honor  of  having  been  the  only  lady  who 
has  succeeded  in  forming  a  complete  collection  of  the  Signers — Mrs. 
Wm.  Hathaway,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  having  gathered  a  partial  set. 

It  consists  of  thirty-seven  A.  L.  S. ;  with  Thornton,  Floyd,  Lewis, 
Stockton,  Witherspoon,  Morton,  Taylor,  Smith,  McKean,  Chase, 
Wythe,  Middleton,  Gwinnett,  and  Walton,  A.  D.  S. ;  Livingston  and 
Clymer,  L.  S. ;  and  signatures  only  of  Hart,  to  a  Continental  bill,  F. 
L.  Lee,  and  Lynch.  Three  of  the  full  letters  bear  date  in  1776 — Wol- 
cott,  February  loth,  Hancock,  July  6th,  and  Gerry,  October  4th, 
while  eleven  others  were  written  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  The 
set  is  bound  in  a  volume  with  thirty-five  engraved  likenesses.  The 
Hancock  and  Heyward  letters,  and  A.  D.  S.  of  Gwinnett,  form  the 
special  features  of  interest  in  the  collection. 

Besides  this  full  collection  of  the  Declaration  Signers,  Mrs.  Allen  also 
formed  nearly  another  set,  together  with  many  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Constitution  ;  all  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States ;  all  of  the 
Bishops  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  from  Bishop  Seabury  down  to  within 
a  short  time  of  her  decease,  illustrated  with  old  engravings  or  photo 
graphs.  Also  many  Huguenot  letters  in  French,  dating  back  to  1669, 
noted  German  autographs,  many  crowned  heads,  English  and  French; 
an  original  letter  of  Louis  Philippe,  written  expressly  for  Mrs.  Allen, 
with  his  signature  and  seal,  alluding  to  his  "chequered  life,"  and  his 
early  visit  to  this  country ;  together  with  letters  of  Voltaire,  Addison, 
William  Penn,  Roger  Williams,  and  many  other  notable  personages. 

Mrs.  Allen  also  secured  a  superb  work,  in  six  folio  volumes,  con 
sisting  of  autographs  of  all  the  persons,  and  illustrations  of  all  the 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  83 

places,  mentioned  in  Cowper's  poems  and  works,  and  is  more  particu 
larly  referred  to  in  the  notice  of  Andrew  Robeson's  incomplete  set  of 
the  Signers,  to  whom  these  rare  and  beautiful  volumes  went  by 
bequest. 

Mrs.  Allen  passing  away  August  30,  1873,  in  her  seventy-seventh 
year,  her  collection  of  the  Signers  and  others  was  inherited  by  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Ely,  and  by  her  grandson,  Andrew  Robeson.  Mrs. 
Ely  died  at  Providence,  Oct.  15.  1888,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 
Her  autograph  collection  will  doubtless  descend  to  her  only  surviving 
child,  Mr.  William  Ely. 

XVIII. — Col.  C.  C.  JONES'  second  set  consists  of  thirty-six  A.  L.  S.  ; 
Bartlett,  Thornton,  Hopkins,  Sherman,  Williams,  Stockton,  Clark, 
Ross,  and  Read,  A.  D.  S.  ;  Wolcott,  Livingston  and  R.  H.  Lee, 
L.  S.  ;  L.  Morris,  Hart,  Morton,  Taylor,  Heyward,  Middleton,  and 
Gwinnett,  D.  S. ;  and  Lynch,  a  signature.  This  set  is  designed  for  his 
son,  and  is  inlaid  on  Whatman  paper,  and  illustrated  with  the  best 
engraved  portraits  extant,  and  views  of  residences,  etc.  Of  the  letters, 
eight  were  written  during  the  Revolutionary  period — Whipple  in  1775, 
Smith  in  1776,  Hewes  in  1777,  Wythe  and  Penn  in  1780,  Nelson  in 
1781,  Harrison  in  1782,  and  Paca  in  1783. 

XIX. — Hon.  T.  STAMFORD  RAFFLES,  Liverpool,  England.  This 
collection  was  made  by  his  father,  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  Raffles,  D.  D., 
and  LL.  D. ,  of  that  city,  who  was  a  much  older  man  than  any  of  our 
American  collectors,  having  been  born  in  London,  May  17,  1778.  He 
used  to  say,  that  the  gift  of  a  letter  of  the  celebrated  traveler,  Mungo 
Park,  first  "  inoculated  "  him  with  a  passion  for  autographs.  This 
was  some  time  prior  to  1814,  when  we  find  him  securing  valuable 
additions  to  his  collection.  Making  journeys  in  Great  Britain  and  on 
the  Continent,  he  never  returned  without  adding  to  his  autograph 
accumulations.  He  received  his  first  visit  in  1828,  from  Rev.  Dn  W. 
B.  Sprague,  with  whom  he  had  previously  been  in  correspondence  ; 
and  for  many  years  they  rendered  each  other  much  mutual  aid  in  the 
exchange  of  autographs.  While  it  is  not  now  known,  yet  it  is  quite 
likely  that  Dr.  Sprague  inspired  in  Dr.  Raffles  the  idea  of  making  a 
collection  of  the  Signers.  After  many  patient  years  of  effort,  Dr. 
Raffles  completed  his  set  in  1837. 

This  collection  of  the  Signers  numbers  thirty  A.  L.  S.  ;  Hart  and 


84  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Paca,  A.  D.  S.  ;  John  Adams,  Hopkins,  Lewis,  McKean,  Hooper, 
and  Walton,  L.  S.  ;  Thornton,  Hancock,  Huntington,  Livingston, 
Lewis  Morris,  Clymer,  Morton,  Ross,  Smith,  Taylor,  Wilson,  Jefferson, 
F.  L.  Lee,  Wythe,  Heyward  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S.  ;  with  Hewes  and 
Lynch,  signatures — the  latter  a  cut  one,  "  T.  Lynch,  ]'.,"  attached  to 
a  letter  of  his  father  signed  "Tho.  Lynch,"  with  Dr.  Sprague's  cer 
tificate,  that  the  autograph  of  the  younger  Lynch  was  taken  from  a 
book  used  by  him  while  a  student  at  Eton  College,  and  furnished  by 
his  nephew,  Gov.  Hamilton,  of  South  Carolina.  The  Gwinnett  is  an 
order  on  the  Treasurer  to  pay  an  express  rider  six  pounds,  dated  March 

4,1777- 

Among  the  rarities  of  the  collection  are  the  full  letters  of  Samuel 
Adams,  Sherman,  Stockton,  and  Middleton,  with  a  fine  historical 
document  of  Hancock  to  Washington,  October  n,  1776,  directing 
him  "by  every  art,  and  at  whatever  expense,  to  obstruct  effectually  the 
navigation  of  the  North  River,  between  Fort  Washington  and  Mount 
Constitution."  The  special  defects  of  the  collection  are,  that  while  the 
Morton  is  a  finely  written  holograph  letter,  June  20,  1765,  addressed 
to  Sir  Wm.  Johnson,  and  certified  as  such  by  Dr.  Sprague,  it  is  not 
signed  ;  and  the  signature  of  George  Taylor  is  imperfect,  the  Christian 
name  having  been  torn  off.  Besides  the  Hancock  document,  the 
Stockton  letter  was  written  in  1776. 

A  writer,  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  said  of  this  collection  :  "  Dr. 
Raffles  has  his  set  bound  in  a  beautiful  volume,  and  values  it  almost  as 
he  would  the  famous  Koh-i-noor.  A  wealthy  Boston  merchant  once 
introduced  himself  to  him  in  the  street,  and  requested  the  privilege  of 
seeing  his  collection.  He  then  told  the  Doctor  that  he  wished  to  make 
a  present  to  his  native  city,  and  had  seen  nothing  which  so  pleased  him 
for  that  purpose  as  this  set  of  autographs,  and  asked  if  there  was  any 
sum  which  would  induce  him  to  part  with  it  ?  The  Liverpool  Doctor, 
however,  who  was  wealthy,  and  besides  considers  a  first-rate  autograph  a 
luxury  greater  than  a  miser's  gold  heap,  was  not  to  be  tempted." 

Dr.  Raffles  wrote  many  works  of  merit,  and  prepared  a  lecture  on 
his  favorite  autograph  hobby.  He  purchased  comparatively  few  of  his 
large  manuscript  collections,  but  arranged  and  illustrated  them,  accu 
mulating  as  many  as  forty  folio  volumes,  and  fully  as  many  more 
quartos,  besides  his  seven  volumes  of  American  celebrities.  He  died 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  85 

in  Liverpool,  August  18,  1863,  leaving  his  noble  autograph  collections 
to  his  worthy  son,  Judge  T.  Stamford  Raffles,  of  that  city. 

XX. — Dr.  EiMMEx's  fourth  set  is  made  up  of  less  desirable  specimens 
than  those  comprising  his  other  full  sets  ;  it  is,  however,  a  very  neat 
and  creditable  collection.  It  numbers  twenty-nine  A.  L.  S.  ;  with 
Bartlett,  Whipple,  Hancock,  Paine,  Hopkins,  Sherman,  Floyd,  Lewis, 
L.  Morris,  Clark,  Wither-poon,  Clymer,  McKean,  Morton,  Rush, 
Wilson,  Hooper,  Heyvvard,  and  Hall,  A.  D.  S. ;  Livingston,  Hart, 
Stockton,  Taylor,  Wythe,  Middleton,  and  Gwinnett,  D.  S.  ;  and 
Lynch,  a  signature  cut  from  a  book.  The  Lynch  signature,  which 
was  long  lacking,  was  secured  from  Mrs.  Ely's  incomplete  set,  and 
though  it  is  signed  simply  "Lynch,"  without  the  prefix  Thomas,  or 
suffix  Jr.,  yet  it  may  be  regarded  as  genuine,  as  Col.  Jones  has  a  simi 
lar  one  in  his  second  set,  whose  genuineness  is  well  attested.  Besides, 
this  signature  in  Dr.  Emmet's  collection  came  from  Dr.  Sprague  to 
Mrs.  Ely's  mother,  Mrs.  Allen,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  Dr. 
Sprague  had  it,  as  he  did  several  others,  from  Mr.  Tefft. 

Of  the  twenty-nine  full  letters,  fourteen  bear  date  during  the  Revolu 
tionary  period,  of  which  five  were  written  in  1776 — that  of  Ross,  only 
two  days  before  the  Declaration.  This  set  is  made  up  of  letters  and 
documents  in  quarto  and  octavo  size — thirty-nine  in  octavo,  sixteen  in 
quarto,  with  the  Lynch  signature.  It  is  used  to  illustrate  Sanderson's 
Lives  of  the  Signers,  in  eight  volumes,  uncut,  with  just  enough  rare 
prints  and  engraved  likenesses  to  render  the  volumes  attractive  and  of 
convenient  size.  It  is  neatly  bound. 

XXI. — JOHN  M.  HALE,  attorney  at  law,  Philipsburg,  Pa.,  has 
recently  completed  his  set  of  the  Signers.  He  was  born  in  Lewistown, 
Pa.,  February  18,  1839,  and  graduated  from  the  University  of  Penn 
sylvania  in  1862.  He  commenced  the  collection  of  autographs  in 
1853,  first  finding  rare  letters  and  documents  among  some  old  papers 
he  had  occasion  to  examine;  and  commenced  by  exchanging  dupli 
cates,  and  since  has  purchased  many  autographs  from  various  auctions 
and  other  sources,  securing  his  Lynch  and  Gwinnett  at  the  recent  Cist 
sale. 

His  collection  of  the  Signers  consists  of  thirty  A.  L.  S.  ;  Bartlett, 
Thornton,  Whipple,  Hancock,  Paine,  Hopkins,  Sherman,  Williams, 
Wolcott,  Livingston,  Lewis  Morris,  Clark,  Hopkinson,  Stockton,  Tay- 


86  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

lor,  Rutledge,  and  Walton,  are  A.  D.  S. ;  S.  Adams,  L.  S. ;  Morton, 
Taylor,  Heyward,  Middleton,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall,  D.  S.,  and  Smith, 
in  both  D.  S.  and  A.  D.  ;  Hart  and  Lynch,  signatures.  Fourteen  are 
Revolutionary  letters — Stone,  Read,  Hewes,  and  Penn,  1776  ;  R.  H. 
Lee,  1777;  Lewis,  1778;  Witherspoon,  1779;  John  Adams  and  Har 
rison,  1780;  McKean  and  Nelson,  1781;  Rodney,  1782;  and  Paca 
and  Braxton,  1783. 

Mr.  Hale  has  nearly  complete  several  other  series — Presidents  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  and  Presidents  of  the  United  States ;  Signers  of 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  ;  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  ; 
Chief  Justices  and  Associates  of  the  Supreme  Court ;  officers  of  the 
Revolutionary  war  ;  Episcopal  Bishops  of  the  United  States  •  Governors 
of  Pennsylvania  ;  also  a  full  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution. 
All  these  groups  are  finely  illustrated. 

XXII. — Hon.  MELLEN  CHAMBERLAIN,  Boston.  Though  not  the  oldest 
in  years,  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  been  the  longest  engaged  in  making  auto 
graph  collections  of  any  of  his  surviving  fellow  collectors  of  sets  of  the 
Signers.  He  was  born  in  Pembroke,  N.  H.,  June  4th,  1821  ;  gradu 
ated  at  Dartmouth  in  1844,  and  from  the  Dane  Law  School  in  1848  ; 
and,  in  1885,  had  conferred  on  him  by  Dartmouth  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 
He  has  served  as  a  judge,  and  has  been  many  years  Librarian  of  the 
Boston  Public  Library.  He  began  to  collect  autographs  as  early  as 
1836,  and  made  the  fine  set  of  the  Signers,  and  other  series,  now 
in  the  Leffingwell  collection.  Judge  Chamberlain's  present  set  of  the 
Signers  is  unique  in  its  character  and  arrangement.  It  is  made  up  of 
the  genuine  signatures,  pasted  on  a  fine  copy  of  the  Declaration  in  fac 
simile,  of  full  size,  on  parchment  colored  paper.  The  document  is 
glazed  and  framed.  It  thus  faithfully  represents  the  great  Declaration, 
and  is  infinitely  more  pleasant  to  look  at  than  the  misused  and  time- 
worn  original  at  Washington.  This  set  was  completed  about  1865. 

He  has  sets  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution  and  of  the  Confedera 
tion  ;  also,  an  address  of  the  Continental  Congress  to  the  King  of 
Great  Britain  in  1774,  all  represented  in  the  same  way  as  the  Signers. 
These  Judge  Chamberlain  calls  Tablets  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed 
that  they  present  a  very  attractive  appearance. 

His  general  collection,  American  and  European,  will,  when  bound, 
with  portraits  and  other  illustrations  and  letterpress,  make  some  200 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  87 

volumes.  He  has  made  a  specialty  of  illustrating  books,  such  as 
Duyckinck's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Literature,  which  has  grown  to 
about  sixty  volumes  ready  for  binding. 

Whether  expressed  or  otherwise,  the  autograph  of  Charles  Thomson, 
the  faithful  Secretary  of  Congress,  may  always  be  regarded  as  finding  an 
appropriate  place  in  every  collection  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

INCOMPLETE   SETS   OF   THE   SIGNERS. 

Concise  notices  will  now  be  given  of  the  incomplete  collections 
extant  of  the  Signers,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  any 
knowledge  of  them — giving  their  strength  so  far  as  known.  These 
representations  tend  to  show  the  scarcity  of  certain  autographs,  and  the 
difficulty — nay,  almost  impossibility — of  securing  them. 

1.  SIMON  GRATZ,  of  Philadelphia,  has  all  save  Lynch  of  a  second 
set — which  he  once  possessed,  but  spared  it  to  round  out  another  col 
lection.     This  set  forms  a  part  of  his  series  of  the  Old  Congress,  and 
consists  of  fifty-one  A.  L.  S.,  with  Hopkins  and  Gwinnett,  L.  S.  ;  and 
Morton  and   Middleton,  D.  S.     The  character  and  condition  of  the 
specimens  are  very  little  inferior  to  his  complete  set.     There  are  some, 
though  not  many,  1776  letters  among  them.     The  collection  is  well 
illustrated. 

2.  Col.    FRANK    M.   ETTING,   Ward    P.    O. ,    Delaware   Co.,  Penn., 
has  fifty-five  of  the  Signers,  lacking  Lynch  ;  fifty  are  A.  L.  S.  ;  Hart 
and   Morton,  A.  D.  S.  ;   Hopkins,  Smith,  and   Gwinnett,  D.  S.      Mr. 
Tefft  once   tendered    Colonel    Etting  a    Lynch    signature,   which    he 
declined,    saying   he    never  admitted    such    specimens  into  his   col 
lection. 

Besides  this  set  and  many  duplicates  of  the  Signers,  he  has  two  sets 
of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution  ;  the  Albany  Congress  of  1754, 
nearly  complete  ;  the  Congress  of  1765,  with  the  Colonial  Governors 
of  the  period,  and  letters  of  Braddock,  Wolfe,  and  other  officers  of  the 
Seven  Years'  War  ;  the  Congress  of  1774,  complete  and  unique,  includ 
ing  an  original  printed  copy  of  the  association  of  1774,  signed  in 
written  signatures  by  the  members — this  copy  was  sent  to  Maryland, 
and  purchased  from  a  descendant  of  Col.  Tench  Tilghman,  who 
inherited  it ;  a  set  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolution,  nearly  complete  ; 


88  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

the  Confederation  of  1778,  nearly,  if  not  quite,  complete  ;  Presidents, 
Vice-Presidents,  and  Cabinet  members,  from  Washington  to  Johnson. 
Colonel  Etting  has  devoted  to  Washington,  Byron,  and  Napoleon, 
each  a  separate  volume  of  autographs  and  illustrations,  giving  each  his 
associates  and  surroundings,  his  loves  and  his  hates,  and  everything 
going  to  make  up  a  unique  and  interesting  collection.  Among  all 
these  are  many  great  rarities — one  a  letter  from  Mary,  the  mother  of 
Washington,  in  which  she  familiarly  writes  of  her  "  George  "  with  her 
own  hand. 

Colonel  Etting  has  one-half  of  a  copy  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  which  he  believes  was  the  one  John  Nixon  read  from  when 
the  great  act  was  proclaimed  in  Independence  Square,  on  the  8th  of 
July,  1776.  It  came  from  Mr.  Nixon's  papers,  and  is  very  much  worn, 
as  if  carried  in  his  pocket  in  hot  weather  ;  but  unfortunately  only  the 
latter  half  of  the  document  is  preserved,  the  signatures  being  printed. 

Colonel  Etting,  now  fifty-five  years  of  age,  commenced  his  auto 
graph  gathering  many  years  ago  ;  but  poor  health  in  recent  years  has 
prevented  him  from  prosecuting  and  completing  his  collections, 
which,  it  is  understood,  he  designs  eventually  to  bequeath  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 

3.  Dr.  JOHN  S.  H.  FOGG,  of  Boston,  has  a  second  set  of  the  Signers, 
fifty-five  in  number,  lacking  Lynch  only.     It  is  used  in  his  group  of 
the  Old  Congress  ;  forty-eight  are  A.  L.  S.  ;  Taylor  and  Read,  A.  D.  S. ; 
Morton  and  Middleton,  L.  S.  ;  Hart  and  Heyward,  D.  S.  ;  and  Gwin- 
nett,  A.  D.      Of  the  full  letters,  twenty-seven  were  written  in  1776,  and 
Morton,  L.  S.  also.     Fully  illustrated. 

4.  D.   McN.  STAUFFER,  of  Ne^v   York,  having  fifty-five  autographs 
of  the   Signers,  lacks  only  Lynch  of  a  full  set  ;  of  which   forty-five 
are  A.  L.  S.,  having  the  rarity  of  a  full  Morton  among  them,  which 
with   Dr.  Emmet's,    formerly  Colonel  Myers',   are  the  only  two  full 
Morton  letters  known  to  be  extant,  an  unsigned  one  being  in  the 
Raffles'  collection.       Thornton,    Wolcott,   and    Read,    are   A.  D.  S.  ; 
Hopkins,    Livingston,    and   Middleton,    L.  S.  ;  Lewis    Morris,    Hart, 
Heyward,   and  Gwinnett  are  D.  S.     Twenty-two  of  the  full  letters  are 
of  the  Revolutionary  period,  nine  of  which  are  1776  letters — nearly  all 
are  of  historical  interest,  particularly  that  of  Rush,  which  was  written 
in  old  Independence  Hall,  and  refers  at  length  to  the  Declaration. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  89 

Mr.  Stauffer  has  completed  a  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution, 
as  well  as  of  the  non-signers,  largely  illustrated. 

He  has  besides  several  other  interesting  series  : 

(i).  The  Old  Congress,  ijj^-Sg,  lacking  only  twenty-eight,  which 
includes  forty-one  specimens  of  a  second  set  of  the  Signers. 

(2).   Generals  of  the  Revolution,  wanting  only  thirteen  names. 

(3).  Aids  to  General  Washington,  thirty  in  number,  lacking  one 
only. 

(4).  Presidents,  Vice-Presidents,  and  Cabinet  Officers,  arranged  in 
separate  administrations,  from  Washington  to  Lincoln  inclusive.  All 
A.  L.  S.,  and  each  administration  complete,  though  necessarily  in 
some  instances  duplicating  specimens. 

(5).  Governors  of  Pennsylvania  to  date. 

(6).  Mr.  Stauffer  has  used  about  three  thousand  letters  and  docu 
ments  in  illustrating  a  History  of  Philadelphia,  from  1630—1830,  which 
fills  by  the  expansion  of  these  profuse  illustrations,  twenty-five  folio  vol 
umes,  and  contains,  besides  the  autograph  letters  and  documents,  some 
thousands  of  engravings,  views,  broadsides,  pen  drawings,  water- 
colors,  etc.,  etc.  This  splendid  work  is  not  yet  complete.  The  col 
lection  is  particularly  rich  in  autographs  of  the  Penn  family,  eighteen 
letters  in  all,  commencing  with  an  A.  L.  S.  of  Admiral  William  Penn, 
the  father  of  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania. 

(7).  Of  the  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  period,  he  has  arranged  in 
miscellaneous  lots  the  "officers  of  the  Revolution,"  numbering  over 
five  hundred  names. 

Mr.  Stauffer  has  also  numerous  minor  series,  chiefly  Pennsylvania 
groups — Mayors  of  Philadelphia,  1700-1876,  wanting  two  only; 
Attorneys-General  of  Pennsylvania,  1682-1876,  lacking  only  four  ;  U. 
S.  Senators  from  Pennsylvania,  complete ;  Judges  of  Pennsylvania 
Supreme  Court ;  members  of  Pennsylvania  Convention,  and  Com 
mittees  of  Safety ;  Governors  of  other  States  ;  officers  of  French  and 
Indian  War,  1755,  etc.;  medical,  literary  men,  clergymen,  etc.,  etc. 

He  has  between  ten  and  twelve  thousand  letters  and  documents  in 
all,  including  a  goodly  number  of  foreign  names,  French  marshals, 
kings  of  England,  and  British  officers  of  the  Revolution,  etc. 

Mr.   Stauffer,   the  collector  of  all  these  interesting  series  of  auto 
graphs,  was  born  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  in  1845,  and  commenced  collect- 
7 


9O  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

ing  his  rich  gatherings  in  1876,  when  he  fell  heir  to  the  papers  of 
Chief  Justice  Jasper  Yeates,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  large  and  valuable 
accumulation  of  papers  and  correspondence  of  a  man  who  figured 
prominently  in  public  affairs  in  that  State  from  1774  until  his  death  in 
1817.  Mr.  Stauffer,  as  well  as  Mr.  Gratz,  is  justly  regarded  as  a  judge 
and  expert  in  American  autographs. 

5.  CHARLES  ROBERTS,  of  Philadelphia,  has  fifty-four  of  a  second  set 
of  the  Signers,  which  form  part  of  his  members  of  the  Old  Congress  and 
of  the  Confederation,  lacking  only  Lynch  and  Gwinnett ;  forty-two  are 
A.  L.  S. ;  the  other  thirteen  are  made  up  of  less  desirable  specimens. 

6.  Hon.    ELLIOT   DANFORTH,    of  Bainbridge,    N.  Y.,   was  born  in 
Middleburgh,  Schoharie  County,   in   that  State,   March   6,  1850,  and 
after  receiving  a  liberal  education,  and  making  some  journeys  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  he  studied  law  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  Judge 
Peter  S.  Danforth,  of  Middleburgh  ;  and  since  his  admission  to  the  bar, 
in   1871,  he  has,  besides  successfully  practicing  his  profession,   filled 
many  local  positions  of  honor  and   responsibility,   once  declining  a 
candidacy  for   Congress,   and    twice   has   represented    his   district   in 
National    Democratic   conventions.      He  is  now  worthily  serving  his 
second  term  as  Assistant  State  Treasurer  of  New  York.      He  is  a  hard 
student  in  solid  literature,  and  a  successful  collector  of  autographs  and 
manuscripts. 

Mr.  Danforth's  collection  of  the  Signers  numbers  fifty-four,  lacking 
Lynch  and  Gwinnett ;  of  which  thirty-six  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Thornton,  Han 
cock,  Sherman,  Wolcott,  Livingston,  Clark,  Hopkinson,  Stockton, 
Ross,  Read,  Heyward  and  Hall,  A.  D.  S.;  S.  Adams  and  Middleton, 
L.  S. ;  Paine,  Hopkins,  Hart  and  Morton,  D.  S.  Of  the  full  letters, 
fifteen  were  written  during  the  Revolutionary  period,  one  of  them  a 
1776  letter. 

Mr.  Danforth  has  an  Old  Congress  series  well  advanced,  in  which 
are  scattered  nearly  all  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution  ;  a  set  of 
the  Generals  of  the  Revolution  to  the  number  of  sixty-seven  ;  the 
Albany  Congress  and  Stamp  Act  Congress  lack  only  a  few  names  ;  and 
he  has  a  complete  set  of  the  Presidents,  Vice- Presidents,  and  Cabinet 
officers,  together  with  a  very  fine  series  of  the  leading  Union  and  Con 
federate  generals,  and  many  literary  and  other  celebrities. 

7.  Dr.  EMMET  has  a  fifth  collection  of  the  Signers  numbering  fifty- 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  pi 

four,  embraced  in  his  special  set  of  the  Congress  of  1774,  and  among 
other  groups,  all  or  nearly  all  in  A.  L.  S.  form,  and  lacking  Lynch  and 
Gwinnett.  Although  unambitious  of  completing  a  fifth  set,  this  suc 
cessful  collector  may  yet  surprise  both  himself  and  friends  with  the 
accomplishment  of  this  remarkable  feat. 

8.  HIRAM  HITCHCOCK,  of  New  York,  has  fifty-four  of  the  Signers, 
lacking  Lynch  and  Gwinnett  ;   of  which  John  Adams,  Gerry,  Paine, 
Ellery,  Huntington,  Lewis,  Witherspoon,  Franklin,  R.  Morris,   Rush, 
Wilson,  Rodney,  Carroll,  Chase,  Braxton,  Jefferson,  one  of  the  Lees, 
Nelson,    Hooper,    and    Walton    are   A.  L.  S. ;    while    the    others   are 
A.  D.  S.  or  D.  S. 

9.  CHARLES  F.  GUNTHER,  of  Chicago,  has  fifty-four  of  the  Signers, 
wanting  Lynch  and  Gwinnett,  said  to  be  largely  of  a  good  character ; 
but  Mr.  Gunther  neglects  to  give  any  information  concerning  them. 

10.  The  second  set  of  Mrs.  D.  J.  COHEN,  of  Baltimore,  gathered  by 
the  late   Dr.  Cohen,   lacked   two  of  completion  in   1870,   apparently 
Lynch  and  Gwinnett ;  and,  it  is  believed,  the  collection  has  received  na 
addition  or  improvement  since  that  time. 

11.  JAMES  A.  EDGERLY,  of  Great  Falls,  N.    H.,  has  a  set  wanting 
Lynch  and  Gwinnett.     We  only  learn  that  it  is  not  strong  in  full  auto 
graph  letters. 

12.  The  second  set  of  Hon.  JOHN  BOYD  THACHER,  of  Albany,  num 
bers  fifty-three,  lacking  Lynch,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall,  made  up  mostly 
of  A.  D.  S.,  and  D.  S.,  and  with  but  few  full  letters  in  the  collection. 

13.  HENRY  A.    WILLARD,   of  Washington,   D.  C.,  has  fifty-three  of 
the  Signers,   which  includes  a   Gwinnett  signature,  and  lacks  Lewis 
Morris,  Hooper,  and  Lynch.      He  has  both  a  Lynch  letter  and  signa 
ture,  but  they  are  undoubtedly  spurious,  as  elsewhere  fully  explained. 

There  are  twenty-six  A.  L.  S.  in  the  collection  ;  Clymer,  Stone,  and 
Middleton,  A.  D.  S. ;  S.  Adams,  L.  S. ;  Bartlett,  Thornton,  Whipple,. 
Paine,  Hopkins,  Williams,  Lewis,  Hart,  Hopkinson,  Clark,  Smith, 
Taylor,  Wilson,  Rodney,  McKean,  Harrison,  and  Hall  are  D.  S. ; 
Sherman,  Morton,  Wythe,  Hewes,  Heyward,  and  Gwinnett,  are  signa 
tures.  The  set  is  handsomely  bound  in  leather,  and  illustrated  with 
engravings. 

Mr.  Willard  had  his  interest  first  attracted  to  autographs  by  coming 
into  possession  of  many  of  the  papers  and  letters  of  his  wife's  grand- 


92  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

father,  Hon.  Stephen  R.  Bradley,  who  was  an  aid  to  Gen.  Wooster  in 
the  Revolution,  and  represented  Vermont  in  the  United  States  Senate 
from  1791  to  1795,  and  again  from  1801  to  1813.  He  survived  till 
1830,  was  a  man  of  eminent  ability  but  eccentric  habits,  and  had  an 
extensive  correspondence  in  his  day,  from  which  Mr.  Willard  selected 
many  valuable  autograph  specimens. 

Some  years  ago  Mr.  Willard,  in  passing  along  one  of  the  streets  of 
Washington,  was  prompted  to  step  into  a  junk-shop,  where  was  a 
great  pile  of  paper  heaped  up  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  awaiting  assort 
ment  for  the  paper  mill.  Happening  to  turn  some  of  the  papers  over 
with  his  foot  while  chatting  with  the  proprietor  of  the  shop,  Mr.  Wil 
lard  was  surprised  to  see  that  they  consisted  mainly  of  old  letters  and 
manuscripts  of  various  kinds,  and  picking  one  up  discovered  that  it 
was  a  valuable  autograph  letter.  He  then  requested  that  the  pile  be 
left  for  his  further  examination,  to  which  the  proprietor  said  that  his 
employees  would  soon  be  ready  to  assort  the  papers,  so  as  to  have  them 
in  readiness  for  shipment  the  next  day.  After  considerable  negotia 
tion  and  the  payment  of  fifty  dollars,  Mr.  Willard  arranged  to  have  the 
pile  left  undisturbed  till  the  following  day,  with  permission  to  select 
such  as  he  might  choose.  It  proved  to  be  a  rich  vein  he  had  struck, 
and  many  valuable  additions  were  made  to  his  collections. 

Mr.  Willard  has  among  his  rich  gatherings  a  set  of  all  the  Presidents 
and  their  Cabinets  down  to  Lincoln's  administration,  and  many  manu 
script  speeches  of  Clay,  Webster,  Hayne,  Benton,  Polk,  Choate  and 
others. 

14.  The  second  set  of  Miss  MARY  M.  LEFFINGWELL,  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  numbers  fifty-two  of  the  Signers,  lacking  Taylor,  Lynch,  Mid- 
dleton,  and  Gwinnett  ;  forty-six  are  A.  L.  S.,  with  Bartlett,  Hopkins, 
and  Hey  ward,  L.  S.  ;  Hart  and  Livingston,  D.  S.  ;  and  Morton,  a  sig 
nature  to  a  Continental  bill.     Unbound,  and  copiously  illustrated. 

15.  HOWARD  K.  SANDERSON,  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  probably  the  youngest 
collector  of  autographs  of  the  Signers,  is  only  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
and  commenced  his  collection  in  1884.      His  set  numbers  fifty-two,  of 
which  twenty-six  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Bartlett,  Sherman,  Williams,  Wolcott, 
Floyd,  Stockton,  Read,  Hooper,  and  Rutledge,  are  A.  D.  S. ;  Living 
ston,  Lewis,  L.  Morris,  Smith,  Taylor,  Harrison,  Heyward,  and  Wal 
ton   are    L.   S.  ;    Thornton,    Hancock,    S.    Adams,    Hopkins,    Hart, 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  93 

Witherspoon,  Franklin,  Morton,  and  Wythe  are  D.  S. ;  and  Lynch, 
Middleton,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall  lacking.  Of  the  full  letters,  twelve 
are  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  as  are  also  five  of  the  L.  S. ;  the  full 
letters  of  Chase  and  Penn  were  written  in  1776. 

Mr.  Sanderson  has  also  several  other  series  well  advanced — the  Presi 
dents,  Governors  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  of  the  kings  and  queens  of 
England,  from  Henry  VIII.  to  Victoria,  fifteen  in  number. 

16.  BYRON  REED,  of  Omaha,  Nebraska,  commenced  collecting  auto 
graphs  about  forty  years  ago,  but  much  of  his  gatherings  has    been 
brought  together  within  the  past  ten  years.     While  his  collection  is 
genera1,  his  set  of  the  Signers  numbers  fifty-two,    lacking    Hooper, 
Lynch,  Gwinnelt,  and  Hall.      It  consists  of  twenty  A.  L.  S. ;  thirteen 
A.  D.  S.,  some  of  which  are  important  historical  documents  ;  sixteen 
D.  S. ;  and  three  L.  S. 

17.  JAMES  W.  HOWARTH,  of  Glen  Riddle,  Pa.,  has  fifty-two  of  the 
Signers,  of  which  nineteen  are  A.  L.  S.;  while  Paine,   Floyd,  Ciark, 
Stockton,  Ross,  Rush,  Wilson,  Chase,  Stone,  and  Rutledge,  are  A.  D. 
S. ;    Whipple  and    Livingston,    L.   S.;  Bartlett,   S.   Adams,   Hopkins, 
Huntington,   Hart,    Franklin,    Morton,    Smith,    McKean,    Harrison, 
Nelson,    Hewes,    Hooper,   and    Heyward,    D.   S. ;  Lewis,    L.   Morris, 
Rodney,  Read,  F.    L.  Lee,  and  Middleton,  signatures,  and  Wythe,  a 
specimen    of  writing.     The    lacking   autographs    are    Penn,    Lynch, 
Gwinnett,  and  Hall.     Nine  of  the  full  letters  are  of  the  Revolutionary 
period,  of  which  Taylor's  was  written  in  1776.     The  set  is  arranged  in 
a   large   book,    illustrated    with    forty-four    portraits   and    forty-eight 
views. 

Besides  a  full  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  Mr.  Howarth 
has  all  but  four  of  the  Generals  of  the  Revolution,  including  eight 
specimens  of  Washington  ;  also  the  Presidents  and  Vice-Presidents,  with 
the  Cabinet  officers,  neatly  bound,  and,  so  far  as  obtainable,  illustrated 
with  portraits,  views,  and  biographical  sketches.  He  has  another  full 
set  of  the  Presidents,  and  a  third  one  nearly  complete  ;  and  a  volume 
of  President  Jefferson  Davis  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  his 
Cabinet,  with  personal  sketches,  engravings,  and  views. 

He  has  twenty  autographs  towards  a  second  set  of  the  Signers.  He 
has,  moreover,  series  of  our  American  judiciary,  members  of  Congress, 
eminent  political  and  literary  characters,  distinguished  divines, 


94  AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS. 

together  with  a  full  set  of  the  Generals  on  both  sides  of  our  civil  war, 
also  fully  illustrated. 

Mr.  Howarth  has  several  finely  printed  books,  illustrated  with  auto 
graphs — Duyckinck  &  Chappell's  Lives  of  the  Presidents,  Tome's 
War  in  the  South,  in  three  volumes  ;  National  Portrait  Gallery,  two 
volumes  ;  Lives  of  the  Governors  of  Pennsylvania,  with  thirty-eight 
autograph  illustrations — designing  to  arrange  his  autographs,  colonial 
and  modern,  of  the  Governors  of  other  States  and  Territories  in  sepa 
rate  volumes.  He  has  also  a  large  album,  with  portrait  engravings  and 
autographs  of  many  American  celebrities. 

Mr.  Howarth  was  born  in  Delaware  County,  Pa.,  in  1847,  where  he 
fills  an  honored  and  useful  position  in  society.  He  commenced  gath 
ering  autographs  in  1864,  and  his  varied  and  growing  collections  now 
exceed  seventeen  thousand,  which  include  Napoleon  and  Wellington, 
with  many  foreign  potentates  and  celebrities. 

1 8.  The  third  set  of  CHARLES  ROBERTS,  of  Philadelphia,  numbers 
fifty-one  of  the  Signers,  of  which  thirty-five  are  A.  L.  S. ;  the  others  are 
either  A.  D.  S.,  L.  S.,  or  D.  S.     Fully  illustrated. 

19.  Rev.  Jos.  H.  DUBBS,  D.  D. ,   of  Lancaster,  Pa.,   has  fifty  of  the 
Signers,  made  up,  as  a  rule,  of  letters  or  fine  A.  D.  S. ,  and  not  in 
cluding  any  cut  signatures.     The  lacking  autographs  are  Penn,  Hey- 
ward,  Lynch,  Middleton,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall. 

Dr.  Dubbs  has  also  a  complete  set  of  the  Signers  of  the  Con 
stitution  ;  and  other  series,  yet  incomplete,  of  the  Generals  of  the 
Revolution,  Presidents,  Vice-Presidents  and  Cabinet  members,  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  naval  officers,  American  authors,  and  American 
divines,  including  more  than  a  hundred  Episcopal  bishops  ;  together 
with  series  of  Pennsylvania  members  of  the  Continental  Congress  and 
down  to  the  present  time,  Governors,  Senators  and  Attorneys-General. 
Dr.  Dubbs  commenced  making  his  collections  in  1860,  and  has  been 
very  successful,  giving,  however,  but  little  attention  to  them  of  late 
years. 

Dr.  Dubbs  was  born  at  North  White  Hall,  Pa.,  October  5th, 
1838.  He  graduated  from  college  in  1856,  and  from  the  Mercers- 
burg  Theological  Seminary  in  1859  ;  and  acceptably  served  as  rector 
of  Zion  Church,  Allentown,  Trinity  Church,  Pottstown,  and  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  and  since  1875  has  served  as  Professor  of  His- 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  95 

tory  and  Archaeology  in  Franklin  and  Marshall  College  at  Lancaster. 
He  has  been  honored  with  membership  in  several  learned  institutions  ; 
serving  also  as  editor  and  newspaper  correspondent  and  author  of 
Historic  Manual  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

20.  HAROLD  BROWN,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  has  forty-eight  specimens 
of  the  Signers,  of  which  thirty-five  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Bartlett,  Hart,  Read, 
Wythe  and  Hewes,  A.  D.  S. ;  Livingston,  L.  S. ;  S.  Adams,  Hopkins, 
Floyd,  Morton,  Ross,  McKean  and  Heyward,  D.  S. ;  wanting  Hancock, 
Paine,  Taylor,  Hooper,  Lynch,  Middleton,  Gwinnett  and  Hall.     This 
set  was   originally  made    by   the   late    Hon.   Henry  C.   Murphy,    of 
Brooklyn,  and  was  purchased  for  the  Hon.  John  Carter  Brown,  at  the 
Murphy  sale,  in  March,  1884,  at  a  cost  of  $445,  and  has  since  been 
improved.     On  the  death  of  Mr.  Brown,  the  set  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Harold  Brown.     There  are  nine  duplicates  of  the  Signers,  in 
some  form,  in  the  collection. 

21.  GEO.  M.  CONARROE,  attorney  at  law,  Philadelphia,  commenced 
his  collections  about  1850,  and  gathered  the  most  of  them  during  the 
ensuing  ten  years.      His  set   of  the  Signers   numbers  forty-eight,   of 
which   thirty-three  are  A.  L.    S. ;   Paine,    Witherspoon,  Morton,  Ross, 
Smith,  Taylor,  and  McKean,  A.  D.  S. ;  Harrison,  L.  S. ;  J.  Adams,  a 
note  signed  with  initials  ;  Bartlett,  Thornton,  Hopkins,  Stone,  Middle- 
ton,  and   Gwinnett,   D.   S. ;    lacking  Wythe,    Hewes,   Hooper,   Penn, 
Heyward,  Lynch,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall. 

Mr.  Conarroe  has  also  made  incomplete  series  of  Generals  of  the 
Revolution,  Presidents  and  Cabinet  members  ;  together  with  interest 
ing  collections  of  literary,  scientific,  and  legal  autograph  letters  and 
documents. 

22.  The  late  HARRISON  WRIGHT,  of  Wilkesbarre,  Pa.,  commenced 
collecting  autographs  in  1864,  and  continued  it  until  his  death,  Feb. 
20,  1885.      His  collections  include  a   set  of  the  Presidents  and  their 
Cabinets,  and  forty-eight  of  the  fifty-six  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence — of  which  fourteen  are  A.  L.  S.,  one  L.  S.,  and  seven 
signatures.     The  lacking  autographs  are  those  of  Bartlett,  Williams, 
L.   Morris,    Hooper,    Hewes,  Lynch,  Middleton,   and  Gwinnett.     On 
Mr.  Wright's  death,  his  autographs  fell  to  his  brother,  Hon.  J.  RIDGEWAY 
WRIGHT,  of  Wilkesbarre,  who  has  concluded  to  retain  and  improve  them. 

23.  The  second  set  of  F.  J.  DREER,  of  Philadelphia,  numbers  forty- 


96  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

seven  ;  of  which  forty-three  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Morton,  A.  D.  S. ;  Hopkins 
and  Livingston,  L.  S. ;  and  Heyward,  D.  S.;  lacking  Thornton,  Paine, 
Stockton,  Ross,  Stone,  Penn,  Lynch,  Middleton  and  Gwinnett.  Copi 
ously  illustrated. 

24.  CHARLES  P.  GREENOUGH,  of  Boston,  has  forty-seven  autographs 
of  the  Signers,  including  a  D.  S.  of  Gwinnett;  twenty  are  A.  L.  S., 
nine  A.  D.  S.,  one   L.  S.,  thirteen   D.  S.,  two  A.  D.,  and  two  signa 
tures  ;  all  are  utilized  in  a  series  of  members  of  the  Old  Congress,  of 
which  he  has  a  large  majority.      Besides  nearly  all  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Constitution,  Mr.  Greenough  has  a  complete  set  of  the  Presidents  and 
Vice-Presidents  and  Cabinet  officers,  and  a  nearly  full  set  of  the  Gen 
erals  of  the  Revolution.      From  the  John  Hancock  papers,  he  selected 
for  his  general  collection  1,500  letters,  and   2,000  from  Daniel  Web 
ster's  correspondence. 

25.  NATHANIEL  PAINE,  Worcester,  Mass.,  has  forty -five  of  the  Sign 
ers  in  his  collection,  of  which  eighteen  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Whipple,  Sher 
man,  Wolcott,   McKean,    Paca,  Wythe,  and  Rutledge,   A.   D.   S. ;  S. 
Adams,   Hancock,    Paine,    Ellery,   Williams,    Floyd,    Livingston,    L. 
Morris,    Hopkinson,    Witherspoon,    Morton,    Ross,    Taylor,    Wilson, 
Chase,  and  Walton,  D.  S. ;  Hart,  Stockton,    Harrison,  and  Heyward, 
signatures ;  lacking  Hopkins,   Clark,   Read,    Stone,   Hewes,   Hooper, 
Penn,  Lynch,  Middleton,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall. 

Mr.  Paine's  collection  of  the  Signers  is  bound  up  in  two  volumes,  in 
half  red  crushed  levant  morocco,  with  illuminated  titles  especially  pre 
pared  for  them.  The  first  volume  contains  an  historical  monograph, 
handsomely  printed,  with  fourteen  engravings  of  the  Signers  mentioned 
in  that  collection  ;  a  brief  history  of  the  thirteen  original  States,  and 
lives  of  the  Signers  properly  illustrated;  two  finely  printed  copies  of 
the  Declaration,  with  an  early  broadside  of  that  document  ;  then 
Broiherhead's  fac-simttes  from  his  Book  of  the  Signers,  with  portraits, 
and  before  each  fac-simile  is  placed  the  original  autograph  on  the  space 
left  vacant  for  that  purpose.  This  volume  embraces  the  New  England 
States  and  New  York,  with  an  illuminated  coat  of  arms  of  each  of  those 
States.  The  second  volume  includes  the  remaining  States,  with  auto 
graphs  and  illustrations  similarly  arranged,  together  with  fac-similes  of 
the  original  Declaration  and  signatures,  and  chronological  tables  of  the 
principal  events  of  the  country  from  1776  to  1876. 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS.  97 

26.  ANDREW  ROBESON,  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  inherits  from  his  grand 
mother,  the  late  Mrs.  Eliza  H.  Allen,   of  Providence,   her  incomplete 
set  of  the  signers,  numbering  some  forty-three,  lacking  Whipple,  Floyd, 
Stockton,   L.  Morris,   Smith,   Read,   R.    H.   Lee,  Nelson,  Middleton, 
Lynch,  Gwinnett,  and  two  others  not  designated. 

Mr.  Robeson  also  inherits  from  Mrs.  Allen  a  unique  collection  of 
autographs  of  all  persons  or  places  mentioned  in  Cowper's  poems  or 
works,  in  six  large  folio  volumes,  beautifully  bound  and  illustrated  by 
engravings  and  pen  and  ink  sketches  by  a  son  of  a  Mr.  Thompson,  an 
engineer  in  the  British  army.  In  one  of  these  volumes  is  an  autograph 
of  Bunyan,  with  its  history.  It  is  said  that  there  are  only  thirteen 
known  autographs  of  Bunyan  in  existence. 

27.  WM.  B.  FAXON,  New  York  City.     His  incomplete  collection  was 
made  several  years  past  by  his  father,  the  late  Hon.  Wm.  Faxon,  of 
Hartford,    Conn.,    at  one  time  Assistant  Secretary  of  the   Navy.     It 
consists  of  forty-three  of  the  Signers,  of  which  J.  Adams,  Gerry,  Sher 
man,    Stockton,    R.  Morris,    Rush,   Clymer,    Rodney,   Carroll,   Paca, 
Jefferson  and  Braxton  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Bartlett,  Thornton,  Whipple  and 
Paine,  A.  D.  S. ;   Hancock,  Huntington,  Livingston  and  Harrison  are 
L.  S. ;  S.  Adams,  Hopkins,  Ellery,  Williams,  Wolcott,  Lewis,  Wither- 
spoon,  Franklin,   Ross,  Wilson,  McKean,   Chase,   Stone,   R.  H.  Lee, 
Wythe  and  Rutledge  are  D.  S. ;   Hopkins,  Hart  and  Morton  are  bills 
signed  ;  Hewes  and  Penn,  letter  franks  ;  Nelson  and  Walton,  signa 
tures.     Those  wanting  of  the  Signers  are  Floyd,   L.   Morris,   Clark, 
Smith,  Taylor,   Read,  F.  L.  Lee,  Hooper,    Heyward,  Lynch,   Middle- 
ton,  Gwinnett  and  Hall. 

Mr.  Faxon's  other  collections  embrace  autographs  of  nearly  all  the 
Presidents,  Vice-Presidents  and  Cabinet  officers,  many  army  and  naval 
officers,  congressmen  and  literary  characters. 

28.  The  second  set  of  D.  McN.  STAUFFER,  of  New  York,  numbers 
forty-one,  which  goes  towards  forming  a  collection  of  the  members  of 
the  Old  Congress — some  three  hundred  and  eighty  in  all,  of  which  he 
lacks  but  twenty-three. 

29.  The  third  set  of  F.  J.  DREER,  of  Philadelphia,  numbers  forty, 
thirty-five   of  which  are  A.  L.  S.  ;   S.  Adams,  Livingston,  Smith  arid 
Paca,    L.    S. ,  and   Morton,    D.  S.  ;    while    sixteen    are  lacking,    viz.  : 
Thornton,  Paine,   Hopkins,  Williams,   Hart,   Stockton,    Ross,   Stone, 


98  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Hewes,  Hooper,    Perm,   Heyward,   Lynch,   Middleton,  Gwinnett  and 
Hall. 

30.  GORDON  L.  FORD,  of  Brooklyn,  has  thirty-seven  of  the  Signers 
— thirty  A.  L.  S. ,  and  seven  either  A.  D.  S.  or  D.  S.     There  are  none 
of  the  Signers  of  the  Carolinas  or  Georgia  represented  in  the  collection, 
save  a  signed  document  by  Rutledge.      His  collection  was  commenced 
in  1839,  at  which  time  Mr.  Ford  states  that  he  knew  but  four  other 
collectors  in  this  country  j  namely  :  Dr.  Sprague,  Mr.  Tefft,  Mr.  Gil- 
mor  and  Mr.  Cist.     His  aim  was  not  so  much  to  form  any  complete 
series,  as  to  secure  letters  of  historic  interest  and  value.     His  incom 
plete  set  of  the  Signers  is  alphabetically  arranged,  illustrated  with  por 
traits,  views  and  short  sketches,  but  not  bound.      His  entire  autograph 
collection  is  one  of  the  largest  in  our  country,  reaching  probably  the 
great  number  of  a  hundred   thousand  letters  and  documents.     Mr. 
Ford,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  who  has  passed  his  sixty-fifth  milestone 
in    life,    enjoys   the    company    of  his   surroundings   with    unflagging 
pleasure  and  pardonable  pride. 

31.  FRANK  D.  ANDREWS,  of  Vineland,  N.  J.,  has  a  general  collec 
tion  of  some   ten   thousand  specimens.     Among  them  are  thirty-four 
autographs   of  the  Signers,   of  which   Ellery,  Huntington,    McKean, 
Paca,  Chase,  Carroll,  Jefferson,  Harrison  and  R.  H.  Lee  are  A.  L.  S. ; 
Bartlett,  Thornton,    Paine,  Williams,   Clymer,   Smith  and  Wilson  are 
A.  D.  S. ;  Hopkinson  and  R.  Morris  are  L.  S. ;  J.  Adams,  S.  Adams, 
Gerry,  Hancock,  Wolcott,  Livingston  and  Ross  are  D.  S. ;  Sherman, 
Franklin,  F.  L.  Lee,  Nelson  and  Wythe  are  signatures  ;  Lewis,  auto 
graph  specimen  of  writing,  and  Hart  and  Morton,  colonial  bills  signed, 
and  one  other  not  classified. 

32.  Hon.  GARRET  D.  W.  VROOM,   of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  twenty-six 
of  the  Signers,  of  which  Hancock,  Livingston,  Clark,  Stockton,  Wither- 
spoon,  Clymer,  Morris,  McKean,  Jefferson  and  Walton  are  A.  L.  S. ; 
while  Bartlett,  Thornton,  Sherman,  Floyd,  Lewis,  Hart,  Ross,  Smith, 
are  A.  D.  S.;  John  and  Sam.  Adams,  Gerry,  Huntington  and  Franklin 
are  L.  S. ;  and  L.  Morris,  Hopkinson  and  Hall  are  D.  S. 

Mr.  Vroom  has  also  a  number  of  letters,  of  the  Revolutionary  period, 
in  other  series. 

33.  Hon.  CHARLES  H.  BELL,  of  Exeter,  N.  H.,  has  a  general  collec 
tion  of  most  of  the  officers  and  patriots  of  the  Revolution  as  well  as 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  99 

foreign  officers,  which  include  twenty-one  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  of  which  about  one-half  are  A.  L.  S. 

Mr.  Bell's  special  attention  has  been  given  mostly  to  a  collection  of 
autographs  of  the  Generals  and  other  distinguished  officers  of  the  Rev 
olution,  which  have  been  inlaid  with  appropriate  letterpress,  illustrated 
with  engravings.  His  autographs  have  been  divided  into  the  following 
groups  : 

I.  Preliminary,  including  George  III.  and  his  principal  ministers, 
and  the  leading  patriots  of  the  ante-Revolutionary  period. 

II.  Concord,  Bunker  Hill,  and  the  siege  of  Boston. 

III.  Canada  and  Burgoyne's  expedition. 

IV.  Battle  of  Long  Island  to  Valley  Forge. 

V.  Monmouth  to  Arnold's  treason. 

VI.  Southern  officers  and  events. 

VII.  Yorktown,  and  end  of  the  war. 

These  groups  embrace  nearly  all  of  the  American  Revolutionary 
Generals  and  a  good  proportion  of  the  British  and  other  foreign 
officer,  and  is  particularly  strong  in  the  French  officers  in  the  American 
service.  When  possible,  specimens  of  the  officers  written  during  the 
campaign  in  which  they  more  especially  figured,  have  been  obtained. 

34.  Hon.    MELLEN    CHAMBERLAIN,   of  Boston,    besides    his   set   of 
mounted  signatures  of  the  Signers,  has  some  thirty  letters  and  docu 
ments  towards  a  second  collection,  of  which  we  have  no  classification. 

35.  The  PENNSYLVANIA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  has  about  one-half  of 
the  Signers  in  separate  letter  form,  which  they  design  utilizing,  at  some 
future  time,  in  improving  their  set,  which  came  from  the  collections  of 
the  late  Dr.  Sprague. 

36.  Miss  MARY  D.   HATHAWAY,  of  New  Bedford,   Mass.,   inherited 
from  her  mother,  Mrs.    William    Hathaway,   several  years   since,   an 
incomplete  collection  of  the  Signers.      Of  its  composition  we  have  no 
information. 

37.  CHARLES  S.   OGDEN,  of  Philadelphia,  is  mentioned  as  an  auto 
graph  collector  as  early  as  1853.      "Some  twenty  years  or  more  ago," 
wrote  the  late  R.  C.  Davis,  "  Mr.  Ogden  had  the  nucleus  of  a  nice  col 
lection   of  the  Signers,    which  was  given    to    his   son    Henry  Corbit 
Ogden,   of  New  York."     We  have  no  knowledge  of  its  strength  or 
classification. 


IOO  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

38.  The  second  set  of  J.  W.  HOWARTH,  of  Glen  Riddle,  Pa.,  num 
bers  twenty  specimens. 

39.  Hon.    HENRY  C.  VAN  SCHAACK,  of  Manlius,  N.  Y.,  made  some 
general  autograph  collections  in  his  day.     He  was  born  at  Kinderhook, 
N.  Y. ,  April  3,  1802.     For  sixty-four  years  he  practiced  law  ;  declin 
ing  public  employments,  he  devoted  himself  to  his  profession  and  to 
literary   pursuits.      His  chief  literary   productions  were,  Life  of  Peter 
Van  Schaack,  LL.D.,  his  worthy  parent  ;  A  Kinderhook  Mansion  ;  Henry 
Cruger,  the  Colleague  of  Edmund  Burke  ;  Captain  Morris,  of  the  Illinois 
Country  ;  a  History   of  Manlius ;   and    a    Life  of  Major  Harry  Van 
Schaack,  who  figured    largely  in  the  Revolutionary  War  in  the  New 
England  States,  in  manuscript,  which  his  descendants  intend  publishing 
in  accordance  with  the  author's  wishes.      He  was  fond  of  saving  histori 
cal  newspaper  scraps,  and   left  many  volumes  systematically  arranged, 
twelve  of  which  relate  exclusively  to  historical  and  biographical  selec 
tions,  and  three  to  the  history  of  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y. 

His  collection  of  autographs  was  designed  to  illustrate  the  period 
of  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution,  among  which  were  at  least 
eighteen  full  letters  of  the  Signers — all  bound  in  three  fine  volumes, 
and  fully  illustrated  with  engravings,  sketches,  newspaper  articles, 
etc.,  descending  to  his  children,  Mrs.  Wm.  G.  Hibbard,  of  Chicago, 
Mrs.  A.  J.  Vanderpoel,  of  New  York,  and  Peter  Van  Schaack,  of 
Chicago. 

Mr.  Van  Schaack  died  at  Manlius,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  18,  1887,  in  his 
eighty-sixth  year,  leaving  behind  him  a  stainless  name,  and  a  reputa 
tion  for  ability,  goodness  and  integrity,  second  to  none  of  his  day  and 
generation. 

40.  CHARLES  J.   HOADLY,  of   Hartford,   Conn.,   has  eighteen  auto 
graphs    of   the  Signers — of  which    Huntington,   Sherman,   Williams, 
Wolcott,  Hopkinson,   Carroll,    and   Braxton  are    A.  L.  S.  ;   Hancock 
and    R.     Morris  are   L.  S.  ;    Bartlett,  Thornton,     Hopkins,   Clymer, 
Franklin  and  Jefferson  are  D.  S.  ;  and  Hart,  Morton,  and   Heyward 
signatures  on  Colonial  bills. 

41.  FRED.  M.  STEELE,  of  Chicago,  has  a  few  specimens  of  the  Sign 
ers.     His  collection  numbers  some  four  thousand  altogether,   which 
include    Presidents,    Vice-Presidents,    and    Cabinet   officers,    military 
characters,  and  literary  and  musical  celebrities. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  IOI 

42.  EBEN  LANE,  of  Chicago,  has  autographs  of  several  of  the  Signers, 
including  one  of  Hart,  but  seems  not  to  have  made  any  special  effort 
towards  perfecting  the  series.      He  has  what  he  regards  as  a  Lynch 
signature,  which  he  has  had  several  years,  but  is  unable  to  trace  its 
origin.     The  chances  are  ten  to  one  that  it  is  spurious.     Mr.  Lane  is 
a  grandson  of  Chief  Justice  Ebenezer  Lane,  of  Ohio,  related  to  Oliver 
Wolcott,  the  signer,  and  Governor  Griswold,  of  Connecticut,  and  in 
this  way  Mr.  Lane  got   quite   a   start   in    his   autograph    collection. 
While  he  has  many  groups,  none  of  them  seem  to  be  complete  ;  among 
them  are  the   Presidents,   Vice-Presidents,   and  Cabinet  officers,    the 
Chief  Justices   and    Associates,    American    statesmen,    many    of  the 
Generals  of  the   Revolution,   the  American    Episcopal  bishops,    and 
many  dramatic  personages — the  latter  used  in  illustrating    Maclise's 
Portrait  Gallery,   and  Matthews'  and  Hutton's  Actors  and  Actresses 
of  Great  Britain  and  America. 

43.  Z.  T.  HOLLINGSWORTH,  of  Boston,  has  a  large  but  general  col 
lection  of  autographs,   with    no  completed   group.      He   has  quite  a 
number  of  specimens  of  the    Signers  of  the   Declaration   and  of  the 
Constitution.      On  Washington  and  the  Revolutionary  War,  it  is  under 
stood    that  his  collection  is  quite  strong  and   interesting,   including 
many  papers  and  correspondence  of  General  Jethro  Sumner,  of  North 
Carolina,  during  the  campaign  of  1780. 

44.  Mrs.  SARAH  J.  SPALDING,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  has  an  inter 
esting  general  collection,  which  came  down  to  her  in  part  from  her 
Revolutionary  ancestry.     They  embrace,  among  others,  a  fine  repre 
sentation  of  our  modern  American  writers  of  prose  and  poetry.     There 
is  no  series  complete,  but  the  collection  contains  quite  a  number  of 
the  Signers. 

45.  AREA  BORDEN,  of  Boston,  has  recently  commenced  the  formation 
of  a  set  of  Signers,  and  has  specimens,  mostly  in  letter  form,  of  about 
twenty. 

46.  Col.  F.  M.  ETTING,  of  Ward,  Pa.,  in  addition  to  his  set  of  fifty-five 
of  the  Signers,  has   nearly  a  full  collection  of  the  signatures  of  the 
Signers,  mounted  and  framed,  with  likenesses.     Of  their  exact  num 
ber  and  deficiencies,  we  are  without  information. 

The  incomplete  set  of  Signers  made  by  Dr.  LEWIS  ROPER,  of  Phila 
delphia,  was  purchased  at  his  death  by  the  late  Jos.  J.  MICKLEY,  of 


102  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

that  city,  at  a  sale  in  Feb.,  1851,  which  took  place  on  a  wet  night 
when  there  were  but  few  or  no  competitors  ;  and  after  much  improving, 
and  completion  prior  to  1860,  it  was  finally  dispersed  at  auction,  after 
Mr.  Mickley's  death,  in  Nov.,  1878 — many  of  the  specimens  bringing 
good  prices  for  that  day — Gwinnett,  L.  S. ,  $110;  Lynch  signature, 
bought  for  Dr.  Fogg,  $95  ;  Hall,  A.  L.  S.,  $60  ;  Hewes,  A.  L.  S., 
$37.50;  Hooper,  A.  L.  S.,  $32  ;  Middleton,  L.  S.,  $29;  Penn,  A. 
L.  S.,  $27.50  ;  F.  L.  Lee,  A.  L.  S.,  $21  ;  Heyward,  D.  S.,  $15. 

LEWIS  J.  CIST,  of  Cincinnati,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1818, 
was  an  early  collector,  commencing  in  1835,  but  did  not  complete  his 
set  of  the  Signers  until  1850,  when  he  received  a  Lynch  signature  from 
Mr.  Tefft.  His  collection  seems  to  have  been  the  fifth  completed  set 
— Sprague,  Raffles,  TefFt  and  Gilmor  preceding  him  in  this  honor. 
Mr.  Cist,  quite  a  poet  and  litterateur,  spent  his  life  mainly  in  the  em 
ploy  of  banks  and  insurance  companies.  But  his  set,  after  all,  was 
deficient  of  two  of  the  Signers,  from  his  having  been  misled  by  two 
wrong  specimens.  His  death  at  Cincinnati,  March  31,  1885,  caused 
the  dispersion,  separately,  of  his  large  collection  of  autographs  at  auction. 

ROBERT  COULTON  DAVIS,  of  Philadelphia,  was  a  prominent  and  suc 
cessful  autograph  collector  for  a  period  of  some  forty-seven  years — 
making  one  full  set  of  the  Declaration  Signers  and  of  the  Signers  of 
the  Constitution,  with  other  notable  series,  all  of  which  since  his  death 
have  passed  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Charles  Roberts,  of  Philadelphia. 
Mr.  Davis  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Aug.  3,  1833,  where  he  was  long 
engaged  in  the  business  of  a  druggist.  The  political  campaigns  of 
1840  and  1844  inspired  within  him  a  love  for  autographs;  prior  to 
1845  ne  had  secured  but  a  few,  which  were  pasted  promiscuously  in  a 
scrap-book.  Obtaining  from  Mr.  Clay  an  autograph  letter,  he  began 
in  earnest  to  gather  those  of  other  celebrities.  He  commenced  form 
ing  his  set  of  the  Signers  in  1850,  completing  it  in  1870,  and  was  ever 
after  improving  and  perfecting  his  specimens  to  folio  size  as  opportuni 
ties  offered,  so  that  all,  save  about  half  a  dozen,  were  of  that  size.  Mr. 
Davis  died  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  Aug.  24, 
1888,  at  the  age  of  fifty- five  years.  His  splendid  autograph  collection 
has  gone  to  enrich  Mr.  Roberts'  several  series — thus  doubling  up  two 
fine  gatherings,  and  adding  very  much  strength  and  completeness  to 
the  combined  collection. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  1 03 

The  late  JAMES  C.  McGuiRE's  manuscript  collections  are  of  an  histori 
cal  character  ;  the  Washington  papers  alone  fill  two  volumes,  relating 
to  the  movements  of  the  army  during  the  Revolution,  and  questions  of 
state,  including  a  draft  of  the  original  first  Farewell  Address  submitted  to 
Mr.  Madison.  There  are  several  volumes  of  Madison  letters,  published 
some  years  ago  for  private  distribution.  Many  letters  of  Jefferson, 
Gen.  Knox,  Adams,  and  Clay  ;  a  volume  of  letters  of  Edmund  Ran 
dolph  ;  of  Joseph  Jones,  a  prominent  member  of  Congress  from  Virginia 
during  the  Revolution  ;  of  John  Drayton,  and  of  Edmund  Pendleton. 
Here  may  be  seen  the  ciphers  of  Madison  and  Jefferson  during  the 
Revolution,  and  Tobias  Lear's  account  of  expenses  for  the  first  eleven 
weeks  of  Washington's  residence  in  New  York  as  President,  in  1789  ; 
and  a  large  number  of  other  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  manu 
scripts. 

GEORGE  W.  CHILES,  the  distinguished  Philadelphia  philanthropist, 
has  a  very  fine  general  collection  of  manuscripts  and  autographs,  em 
bracing  twenty  thousand  names.  They  include  the  most  celebrated 
literary  men  of  both  continents,  each  letter  containing  some  sentiment 
characteristic  of  the  writer.  He  has  the  manuscript  of  Dickens's  Our 
Mutual  Friend,  for  which  he  has  refused  $6,000.  He  has  also  auto 
graphs  of  all  the  Presidents,  bound  and  illustrated.  We  do  not  learn 
that  he  has  made  any  collection  of  the  Signers. 

The  collection  of  HENRY  C.  BAIRD,  of  Philadelphia,  commenced  in 
1842,  and  described  in  the  Bizarre  magazine,  April,  1853,  included  a 
goodly  portion  of  the  Signers,  which  have  been  dispersed.  Dr.  C.  G. 
BARNEY,  of  Richmond,  Va. ,  made  a  fine  collection  of  the  Signers,  con 
taining  many  valuable  historical  letters,  and  lacking  only  Lynch  and 
Gwinnett ;  but  despairing  of  securing  these,  he  sold  his  autographs 
separately  to  other  collectors.  Col.  BRANTZ  MAYER,  of  Baltimore,  a  lit 
erary  man  of  much  repute,  made  a  collection  of  the  Signers,  which 
lacked  Taylor,  Lynch,  Middleton,  Gwinnett,  and  Hall  ;  he  dying  in 
February,  1879,  his  autographs  were  dispersed  at  auction  in  November 
following.  The  late  Hon.  HENRY  S.  RANDALL,  of  Cortland,  N.  Y., 
also  made  a  collection  of  the  Signers,  which  needed  only  Gwinnett  of 
completion,  which  since  his  death,  August  14,  1876,  passed,  with  his 
other  autograph  groups,  which  he  had  been  some  thirty  years  gather 
ing,  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  C.  DeF.  Burns,  and  have  been  dispersed. 


104  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Other  collections — notably  those  of  B.  B.  THATCHER,  of  Boston  ; 
CHARLES  H.  MORSE,  of  Cambridgeport,  Mass.  ;  E.  D.  INGRAHAM, 
ALFRED  B.  TAYLOR.  JOSEPH  H.  TODD,  JOHN  G.  HOWARD,  JOHN  M. 
SEIGFRIED,  and  EDWARD  HERRICK,  of  Pennsylvania  ;  JOHN  R.  THOMP 
SON,  of  Richmond,  Va.  ;  JOSEPH  B.  BOYD,  of  Maysville,  Ky.  ;  JOHN 
B.  MOREAU,  of  New  York  ;  OSCAR  T.  KEELER,  of  Columbus,  Miss. ; 
and  W.  T.  BLOCK,  of  Pittsburgh — have  been  disposed  of,  and  served 
to  strengthen  other  sets  of  autographs. 

The  autographs  of  extreme  rarity,  of  some  of  the  Signers,  are  steadily 
but  surely  enhancing  in  value.  The  Lynch  signature,  which,  in  1845, 
had  no  pecuniary  value,  Mr.  Davis  paid  $5  for  in  1861,  and  four  or 
five  years  later  Mr.  Gratz  paid  $10  for  his  ;  Dr.  Fogg  $95  in  1878  ; 
subsequently  it  brought  $145,  $150  in  1881,  and  $210  at  the  recent 
Cist  sale.  The  Gwinnett,  in  document  form,  which  brought  $no  in 
1878,  and  the  same  in  1881,  commanded  $185  at  the  Cist  sale;  and 
at  this  sale  also  a  Lewis  Morris  letter  brought  $85,  while  a  Stockton 
letter  netted  $50.  Mr.  Stauffer  has  refused  $300  for  his  full  letter  of 
John  Morton,  of  which  only  one  other  is  known  to  be  in  existence, 
save  the  unsigned  one  in  the  Raffles'  collection. 

Still  other  autograph  collectors  have  been  in  the  field.  Col.  PETER 
FORCE,  of  Washington,  gathered  many  manuscripts  and  documents, 
which  since  his  death  have  passed  into  the  library  of  Congress.  In 
the  Bizarre  magazine,  Philadelphia,  Oct.  29,  1853,  quite  a  list  of 
other  known  autograph  collectors  of  that  period  is  given  :  JAMES  T. 
FIELDS,  of  Boston,  chiefly  of  literary  characters  ;  Capt.  FURMAN  SEY 
MOUR,  U.  S.  A.,  West  Point  ;  Dr.  THEO.  L.  CUYLER,  Trenton,  N.  J. ; 
Dr.  L.  R.  KOECKER,  WM.  SCHOTT,  Jos.  H.  HEDGES  and  Dr.  S.  A. 
ALLIBONE,  all  of  Philadelphia — the  latter  since  of  the  Astor  Library, 
New  York  ;  HENRY  T.  OATES,  Charleston,  S.  C.;  and  WM.  L.  MAC 
KENZIE,  Toronto.  It  is  not  probable  that  any  of  these  collections 
embraced  any  considerable  number  of  the  Signers,  nor  have  we  any 
definite  information  whether  any  of  these  autograph  garnerings,  save 
those  of  Colonel  Force,  are  still  preserved  intact,  or  have  been  dis 
persed.  Such  manuscript  collections  as  those  of  JARED  SPARKS,  GEORGE 
BANCROFT,  PETER  FORCE,  FRANCIS  PARKMAN,  and  the  writer  of  this 
essay,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Historical  Societies  of  our  country,  do 
not  properly  come  within  the  scope  of  this  paper,  as  they  were 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  1 05 

gathered,  not  for  any  autographic  display  and  embellishment,  but  for 
the  sole  object  of  subserving  the  purposes  of  history. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  on  the  remarkable 
coincidence  of  the  deaths  of  Adams  and  Jefferson,  July  4th,  1826,  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  passage  of  the  Declaration,  Charles  Carroll 
alone  remained  of  that  illustrious  body  who  ventured  on  the  experiment 
of  American  Independence.  This  venerable  patriarch  had  several 
copies  of  the  engrossed  Declaration  prepared,  which  he  signed  as  the 
sole  survivor,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1826 — just  fifty  years  after  the 
signing  of  the  great  original.  One  of  these  he  presented  to  John 
McTavish,  who,  we  believe,  married  a  daughter  of  the  Signer,  and  is 
yet  preserved  in  the  family  ;  another  copy  was  presented  to  the  New 
York  City  Library,  countersigned  by  President  J.  Q.  Adams  and 
several  of  his  cabinet  officers  and  some  other  public  characters,  and 
also  indorsed  by  Gov.  DeWitt  Clinton  and  others  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  This  copy  is  bound  in  folio  form  in  vellum,  and  after  having 
been  misplaced  for  many  years,  has  recently  been  recovered. 

SETS   OF   SIGNERS   OF   THE   CONSTITUTION. 

Besides  the  thirty-nine  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  there  were  thirty- 
four  others  chosen,  who  either  declined  acceptance  of  the  membership, 
or  failed  to  attend,  or,  though  attending  part  or  all  of  the  session,  did 
not  affix  their  names  to  the  instrument  adopted  by  the  Convention. 
Autographs  of  several  of  the  Signers  proper  are  difficult  to  obtain.  A 
distinguished  collector  states  that  his  personal  experience  leads  him  to 
declare  that  the  relative  rarity  of  the  autographs  of  the  delegates  who 
did  not  sign  the  Constitution  would  be  fairly  expressed,  at  this  time, 
by  the  following  classification,  referring  to  A.  L.  S.,  and  not  those  of 
inferior  grades  : 

1.  Those  most  readily  obtained  :  E.  Gerry,   Caleb  Strong,  Robert 
Yates,    John    Lansing,   Luther  Martin,   Edmund   Randolph,    Nathl. 
Pendleton.  Charles   Carroll  of   Carrollton,   Gabriel    Duvall,  Thomas 
Sim   Lee,   Henry  Laurens,   Wm.    R.   Davie,    John   Pickering,   Oliver 
Ellsworth,   Richard  Henry  Lee,  John  Neilson,  John  F.  Mercer  and 
Patrick  Henry. 

2.  Richard   Caswell,   William   Pierce,   George   Walton,    Abraham 


106  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Clark,  James  McClurg,  Alexander  Martin,  George  Mason,  Robert  H. 
Harrison  and  Thomas  Nelson. 

3.  Benjamin  West,  Wm.  Churchill  Houston,  Francis  Dana,  George 
Wythe,  Wm.  Houstoun  and  Thomas  Stone. 

4.  Willie  Jones.* 

In  briefly  describing  the  full  collections  of  the  Constitutional 
Signers,  and  the  incomplete  sets  as  well,  any  mode  of  discrimination 
is  not  without  its  difficulties.  In  following  the  rule  laid  down  in 
classifying  the  sets  of  the  Declaration  Signers,  giving  those  precedence 
having  the  largest  number  of  A.  L.  S.,  there  is  no  certainty  that  really 
the  best  collections,  if  judged  by  their  condition  or  historical  value, 
are  properly  recognized.  At  present,  however,  we  see  no  better  way  to 
get  at  the  matter  ;  and  if  not  deemed  the  best,  each  one  must  readjust 
the  list  to  suit  his  own  judgment,  with  the  facts  as  they  are  reported 
and  presented.  If  a  committee  of  experts,  as  at  a  fair,  were  person 
ally  and  carefully  to  examine  the  several  collections  in  detail,  they 
might  reach  very  different  results. 

1.  SIMON  GRATZ,   of  Philadelphia.      His  set  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Constitution  is  a  superior  one — undoubtedly  the  best  extant.      It  is 
composed  wholly  of  A.  L.  S.,  and  includes  not  only  the  thirty-nine 
Signers  proper,  but  the  thirty-four  others  who  were  chosen  delegates, 
and  who  either  failed  in  their  attendance  or,  from  some  other  cause,  did 
not  sign  the  Constitution.     Eight  of  the   letters  of  the  Signers  are 
addressed  to  Washington,  and  nine  others  relate  to  the  business  of  the 
Convention.     Several  of  the  autographs  of  the  thirty-four  non-Signers 
are  more  difficult  of  obtainment  than  those  of  any  of  the  Signers 
proper. 

2.  Dr.  J.  S.  H.  FOGG,  of  Boston.     Of  his  set  of  the  thirty-nine  Sign 
ers  of  the  Constitution,  all  are  A.  L.  S. ,  except  Blair,  D.  S.     He  has 
also  full  autograph   letters,    save  of  Wythe  only,  which  is  a  signed 
document,  of  the  other  thirty-four  who  were  chosen  members  of  the 
Convention  of  1787,  but  failed  to  sign  the  Constitution.     Including 


*  For  a  full  list  of  all  the  seventy-three  persons  chosen  by  States  to  the  Federal 
Convention  of  1787,  whether  they  attended  or  not,  and  whether  they  signed  the 
Constitution,  or  failed  for  any  reason  to  do  so,  see  Mr.  P.  L.  Ford's  carefully 
prepared  paper,  Appendix  No.  2. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  IO/ 

William  Jackson,  the  Secretary,  the  collection  is  illustrated  with  fifty 
engravings,  leaving  twenty-four  without  likenesses. 

3.  and  4.  CHARLES  ROBERTS,  of  Philadelphia,  has  two  full  sets  of 
the  thirty-nine  Signers  proper,  all  in  A.  L.  S.,  with  appropriate  illus 
trations.  He  has  also  one  full  set,  and  nearly  another,  of  the  non- 
Signers. 

5.  D.  McN.  STAUFFER,  of  New  York,  has  a  full  set  of  the  Signers 
of  the  Constitution,  and  also  of  the  non-Signers,  and  all  in  A.  L.  S., 
save  Bedford,  Read,  Jones,  and  West,  A.  D.  S. ;  Dana,  Blair,  Wythe, 
and  Houstoun,  D.  S.     There  are  illustrations  of  fifty-six  of  the  num 
ber  ;    among   the  lacking   likenesses  are   those  of  Pickering,  Yates, 
Houston   of   New    Jersey,    Brearley,   Broom,    Fitzsimmons,    Caswell, 
Pierce,  Houstoun  of  Georgia,  and  Pendleton. 

6.  Col.  C.  C.  JONES,  Jr.,  of  Augusta,  Georgia.     His  set  of  the  Signers 
of  the  Constitution  is  complete — all  A.  L.  S.,  save  Wilson  and  Read, 
A.  D.  S.,    and    Franklin  and    Mifflin,   D.   S.      The   collection   also 
includes  all  the  members  elect  to  the  Convention  of  1787,  who  were 
either  not  present,  or  failed  to  sign  the  engrossed  document ;  and  all 
these  also  are  A.  L.  S.,  except  Benjamin  West,  A.  D.  S.     This  series 
is  likewise  illustrated  with  portraits,  inlaid  on  Whatman  paper,  and 
bound. 

7.  FERD.  J.  DREER,   Philadelphia,  has  all  the  Signers  in  A.  L.  S., 
and  quite  a  portion,   in  some  form,   of  those   chosen  who  did  not 
attend,  or  did  not  sign.      Properly  illustrated. 

8.  Dr.  THOMAS  A.  EMMET,  of  New  York.     Of  his  collection  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Constitution,  thirty-seven  are  A.  L.  S.,  and  only  Broom 
and  Carroll  are  A.  D.  S. ;  fifteen  are  of  folio  size,  and  twenty-four  are 
quartos.     The  set  also  includes  sixteen  others  who  were  chosen  mem 
bers,   but  did  not  sign  the  Constitution — of  which  thirteen  are  full 
letters.     It  is  an  excellent  set,  and  illustrated  with  portraits,  views,  etc. 

9.  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  Madison,   Wis.,  has  all  the  Signers 
proper  in  A.  L.  S.,  with  suitable  illustrative  matter. 

10  and  ii.  The  late  PROF.  LEFFINGWELL  had  two  sets  of  the 
Signers  of  the  Constitution — the  first  consists  of  thirty-six  A.  L.  S. ; 
with  Blair,  L.  S.,  and  Bedford  and  Read,  D.  S.  The  second  col 
lection  has  thirty-five  A.  L.  S.,  with  Bedford,  G.  Morris,  Read,  and 
Blair,  D.  S.  He  had  also  a  set  of  those  who  were  elected  to  the 


108  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Convention  of  1787,  but  failed  from  various  causes  to  sign  the  Con 
stitution.  These  descended  to  his  niece,  Miss  Mary  M.  Leffingwell, 
of  New  Haven,  Conn. 

12.  The  late  JOSEPH  W.  DREXEL,  of  New  York,  possessed  the  set 
made  up  by  Mr.  Tefft,  of  Georgia,  consisting  of  thirty-two  of  the 
Signers  proper,  in  A.  L.  S.,  with  Sherman,  Paterson,  and  Bedford, 
A.  D.  S. ;  Wilson,  Bassett,  and  Rutledge,  autographs  not  signed,  and 
Blair,  D.  S.  This  set  was  purchased  at  the  Tefft  sale,  in  March,  1867, 
by  the  late  Wm.  Menzies  ;  and  at  the  sale  of  the  Menzies'  library  and 
manuscripts,  in  Nov.,  1876,  it  was  bought  by  Joseph  Sabin  &  Sons  at 
$290,  and  passed  over  to  Mr.  Drexel.  After  its  purchase  by  Mr. 
Menzies,  it  received  a  full  Washington  letter  in  place  of  a  D.  S.  It 
has  printed  biographies,  is  illustrated,  and  handsomely  bound,  with 
twenty-nine  portraits  which  were  inlaid  by  F.  Bedford,  and  a  rubricated 
title-page  and  special  table  of  contents  printed  for  the  volume  by  Mun- 
sell. 

13  and  14.  Col.  FRANK  M.  ETTING,  of  Ward,  Pa.,  has  two  sets, 
which  he  represents  as  full,  of  which  we  have  no  classification. 

15.  C.  F.  GUNTHER,  of  Chicago,  has  the  thirty-nine  Signers  proper 
— not  reported  in  detail,  but  supposed  to  be  nearly  all  in  full  letter 
form. 

1 6.  Rev.  Dr.   J.  H.  DUBBS,  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  has  all  the  Signers 
proper,  and  only  wanting  three  or  four  of  the  others  chosen  to  the 
Convention  ;  twenty-eight  are  A.  L.  S. ;  six  A.  D.  S. ;  and  the  others 
D.  S. 

17.  JOHN  M.  HALE,  of  Philipsburg,  Pa.,  has  a  full  set  of  the  Signers 
of  the  Constitution,  of  which  twenty-five  are  A.  L.  S. ;  four  A.  D.  S. ; 
five  D.  S. ;  three  L.  S.  ;  and  two  signatures.     He  has  also  in  some  form 
autographs  of  all  save  nine  of  the  non-Signers.     The  set  is  finely  illus 
trated. 

1 8.  JAMES  W.  HOWARTH,  of  Glen  Riddle,  Pa.,  has  a  full  set  of  the 
thirty-nine  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  of  which  eleven  are  A.  L.  S. — 
namely,  King,  Clymer,  Ingersoll,  R.  Morris,  Wilson,  Dickinson,  Mc- 
Henry,  Madison,  Washington,  Rutledge,  and  Butler;  Gorham,  John 
son,  Sherman,  Dayton,  Jenifer,  and  C.  C.  Pinckney,  are  A.  D.  S. ;  Gil- 
man,  Langdon,  Livingston,  Paterson,  Franklin,  Fitzsimmons,  Mifflin, 
G.  Morris,  Bassett,  Bedford,  Broom,  Blair,  Blount,  Spaight,  William- 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  1 09 

son,  Charles  Pinckney,  Baldwin,  and  Few,  are  D.  S.;  Brearley,  Read, 
and  Carroll,  signatures.  Also  thirteen  who  were  chosen  members  but 
failed  to  be  present  to  attach  their  names  to  the  Constitution — Gerry, 
Martin,  Randolph,  and  West,  A.  L.  S.;  Ellsworth  and  Walton,  A.  D. 
S.  ;  Strong,  Yates,  Clark,  Mercer,  and  Pendleton,  D.  S.  ;  Patrick 
Henry,  L.  S.  ;  and  Wythe,  signature.  Illustrated  as  far  as  possible. 

19.   Hon.   MELLEN  CHAMBERLAIN,  of  Boston,  has  a  unique  set  of 
signatures  of  the  Signers,  appended  to  a  neat  copy  of  the  Constitution. 

INCOMPLETE   SETS. 

1.  CHARLES  P.   GREENOUGH,  of  Boston,  has  thirty-six  of  the  Signers 
proper  to  the  Constitution,  of  which  twenty-one  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Gilman, 
Langdon,    Sherman,    Bassett,    Bedford,    and   Wilson,    are  A.  D.  S.  ; 
Gorham,  A.  N.  S.  ;  Dickinson,  L.  S.  ;  Johnson,  Paterson,  G.  Morris, 
Read,   Jenifer,   and   Blair,  D.  S.  ;  Spaight,  signature  ;  with  Brearley, 
Carroll,  and  Blount  wanting. 

2.  G.   M.    CONARROE,  Philadelphia,  has  thirty-five  of  the  thirty-nine 
Signers,  lacking  Johnson,  Washington,  Rutledge  and  Few. 

3.  Hon.  CHARLES  H.   BELL,  of  Exeter,  N.    H.,  has  autographs  of 
twenty-nine  of  the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  about  one-half  of  which 
are  A.  L.  S.     They  form  a  part  of  his  general  collection  of  patriots  of 
the  Revolution,  and  are  inlaid  and  illustrated. 

4.  GORDON  L.    FORD,  of  Brooklyn,  N.   Y.,  has  about  two-thirds  of 
the  Signers  of  the  Constitution,  scattered  through  his  large  general 
collection  of  autographs,  alphabetically  arranged — the  exact  number 
is  not  easily  ascertained. 

5.  Hon.  GARRET  D.  W.  VROOM,  Trenton,  N.  J.,  has  twenty-six  of  the 
Constitution  Signers.      Langdon,  King,   Hamilton,  Brearley,   Dayton, 
Livingston,    Paterson,    Clymer,    Dickinson,    Fitzsimmons,    Ingersoll, 
Gouv.   and   R.    Morris,  Spaight,  Butler,    and    Few,   A.  L.  S.  ;  while 
Madison  and  Sherman  are  A.  D.  S.  ;  and  Gilman,  Franklin,  Mifflin, 
Washington,    Blount,  and  Rutledge,  are  L.  S.  ;  and    McHenry   and 
C.  C.  Pinckney,  signatures. 

6.  FRANK  D.  ANDREWS,  Vineland,  N.  J.,  has  autographs  of  twenty- 
one  of  the  Signers  proper — of  these  King,   Fitzsimmons,   Ingersoll, 
Jenifer,  and  Butler  are  A.  L.  S. ;  Clymer,  Wilson,  and  Rutledge  are 
A.  D.  S.  ;    Hamilton  and  R.   Morris  are  L.  S.  ;  Gilman,    Langdon, 


1 10  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

Livingston,  Mifflin,  and  Washington  are  D.  S.  ;  and  Johnson,  Sher 
man,  Dickinson,  Madison,  Blount,  and  C.  C.  Pinckney  are  signatures. 

Wanting  to  complete  a  set — Gorham,  Dayton,  Brearley,  Paterson, 
Franklin,  G.  Morris,  Bedford,  Bassett,  Broom,  Read,  Carroll,  Mc- 
Henry,  Blair,  Spaight,  Williamson,  C.  Pinckney,  Baldwin,  and  Few. 

Of  the  non-Signers,  Mr.  Andrews  has  Strong,  D.  S.  ;  Pickering, 
Ellsworth,  Yates  and  Henry,  A.  D.  S. 

7.  Hon.   JOHN  BOYD  THACHER,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  has  the   partial 
set,  late  E.  E.  Sprague's,  of  which  several  rare  names  are  wanting.     It 
is  believed  Mr.  Thacher  has  considerably  improved  it. 

8.  The    PENNSYLVANIA    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY    has    an    incomplete 
collection. 

In  all  the  complete  collections  of  autographs  of  the  Signers  of  the 
Constitution,  and  probably  in  most  of  the  partial  ones  as  well,  the 
autograph  of  William  Jackson,  the  Secretary,  is  very  properly  included. 


APPENDIX  No.    i. 
From  the  American  Antiquarian,  May,  1888. 


THE    "SPRING"   AUTOGRAPH   FORGERIES. 

A  NUMBER  of  these  forgeries,  well  known  to  older  collectors,  have  recently 
been  offered,  both  privately  and  at  New  York  auction  sales.  We  can  only  advise 
beginners,  or  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  autographs,  to  examine  carefully 
before  purchasing,  and,  in  case  of  doubt,  to  take  the  opinion  of  an  expert.  As  a 
matter  of  interest  we  reprint,  from  a  Philadelphia  paper  of  November  5,  1869,  an 
account  of  the  forger  and  his  peculiar  transactions  : 

MAKING  AND  SELLING  BOGUS  AUTOGRAPHS — HEARING  BEFORE  THE  MAYOR. 
— Yesterday  afternoon  a  man  by  the  name  of  Robert  Spring,  residing  at  No. 
2,132  Christian  Street,  was  before  the  Mayor,  charged  with  obtaining  money  by 
false  and  fraudulent  pretenses,  by  selling  what  purported  to  be  autograph  letters 
of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Franklin,  and  other  persons  of  eminence.  To  facilitate 
his  designs  he  went  under  the  names  of  William  Emmerson,  Thomas  French, 
Samuel  Hawley,  M.D.,  and  Samuel  R.  Hampton,  M.D. 

He  would  obtain  genuine  letters  of  those  he  wished  to  use,  and  trace  them  upon 
a  sheet  of  old  paper  procured  from  the  backs  of  old  books,  or  stain  the  paper  with 
coffee  grounds,  or  some  other  preparation,  to  give  it  an  ancient  look.  These 
fraudulent  letters  would  then  be  addressed  to  parties  having  fine  libraries,  or  who 
were  fond  of  collecting  such  articles.  In  the  note  accompanying  the  bogus  letter, 
the  writer  would  state  that  he  was  sadly  in  need  of  money,  and  if  the  recipient 
wished  the  autograph  letter,  he  could  send  a  certain  sum  of  money  to  an  address 
given,  which  would  in  nearly  all  cases  be  outside  of  Philadelphia,  Camden  being 
one  of  the  principal  points  of  operation. 

A  large  number  of  replies  were  received  to  letters  of  this  kind,  and  remittances 
varying  from  $10  to  $15,  and  even  more,  were  sent  to  him.  He  has  operated  in 
this  manner  for  years.  In  1859,  he  was  arrested  by  Detective  Franklin,  the  same 
who  arrested  him  in  the  present  instance,  and  taken  before  Mayor  Henry,  who 
held  him  to  appear  when  desired.  After  this  he  left  Philadelphia  and  went  to 
Canada,  writing  several  letters  from  that  point  in  the  name  of  "  Emma  Harding," 
which  stated  that  she  had  in  her  possession  a  large  collection  of  autograph  letters, 
and  being  in  destitute  circumstances,  owing  to  the  recent  death  of  her  husband, 
she  would  be  obliged  if  they  were  purchased,  provided  any  were  desired.  She 
was  to  be  addressed  in  the  care  of  Samuel  Hawley,  M.D. 

Several  responses  were  received,  a  number  of  them  containing  money.  From 
Canada  he  went  to  Baltimore,  and  wrote  several  letters  in  the  name  of  Fannie 
Jackson,  stating  that  she  was  a  daughter  of  General  Stonewall  Jackson,  and  gave 
as  an  excuse  for  writing,  that  she  was  in  poor  circumstances  and  urgently  needed 
money.  They  were  principally  sent  to  the  rebel  bondholders  in  England,  but 
the  whole  thing  was  almost  immediately  exposed,  and  very  little  or  nothing  was 


112  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

obtained.  After  this  he  went  to  England,  and  was  exposed  in  London,  but  never 
brought  to  justice. 

He  wrote  about  eighty  letters  in  November  year  ago,  and  requested  the  answers 
to  be  sent  to  Richmond,  Va.  Seventeen  letters  were  received  in  response,  directed 
to  the  name  of  Dr.  S.  R.  Hampton.  Three  of  them  contained  money.  In  his 
attempt  to  obtain  money  by  the  Jackson  letters,  sent  to  England,  he  received 
about  £10. 

Detective  Franklin,  sworn. — Complaint  was  made  here  a  few  days  ago,  in  refer 
ence  to  a  man  named  Spring,  who  is  a  dealer  in  autographs,  charged  with  defraud 
ing  certain  parties,  by  passing  upon  them  fraudulent  autograph  letters  ;  went  down 
to  his  house  to  see  him,  and  found  a  number  of  manuscripts  ;  he  was  arrested  in 
1859,  and  came  before  Mayor  Henry,  charged  with  dealing  in  forged  letters  of 
General  Washington  ;  he  then  lived  in  Anita  street,  near  Tenth  ;  bought  one  of 
these  letters  myself ;  the  paper  he  uses  for  these  letters  is  prepared  by  himself, 
being  generally  stained  with  coffee  ;  he  frankly  acknowledged  his  guilt  yesterday 
when  arrested  ;  he  also  wrote  me  a  letter  at  my  request,  and  gave  me  the  list  of 
postmasters,  where  the  letters  had  been  sent  from  time  to  time. 

The  letter  was  here  read  by  the  detective,  and  is  as  follows  : 

PHILADELPHIA,  October  4,  1869. 

SIR  :  Hearing  there  have  been  several  complaints  made,  I  beg  to  state  to  you, 
from  the  remembrance  of  your  fair  and  honorable  treatment  of  my  case  with 
respect  to  the  bogus  Washington  autographs,  in  the  year  1858,  that  since  I  have 
resided  in  this  city  (June  6,  1868),  I  have  never,  by  word  or  act,  wronged  any 
person  in  the  United  States,  though  I  have  obtained,  in  several  instances,  small 
sums  from  England,  driven  to  such  from  dreadful  home  affliction,  and  to  aid  in 
supporting  a  large  family  of  seven  children,  the  youngest  of  whom  died  three 
months  ago,  at  a  moment  I  had  not  a  dollar. 

Mr.  Gratz  can  inform  you  I  have  tried  by  every  effort  to  obtain  a  creditable 
livelihood,  and  it  was  only  to  spin  out  my  shortcomings  that  I  solicited  and  ob 
tained  the  small  assistance  I  did  from  England  about  ten  months  since.  I  prom 
ised  Mr.  Gratz  I  would  never  do  another  dishonorable  act,  and  with  the  exception 
of  receiving  replies  to  letters  written  to  Europe  before  that  period,  and  which, 
from  my  urgent  affliction  and  often  absolute  want,  I  could  not  resist  the  tempta 
tion  to  keep.  I  have  kept  my  promise.  You  know,  Mr.  Franklin,  the  affliction  to 
which  I  allude.  I  am  writing  this  under  the  greatest  distress.  I  write  this  to 
you  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

I  am  willing  you  should  know  all,  and  have  it  in  your  power  to  stop  in  future 
any  dishonest  attempt,  should  I  make  any.  In  November,  1868,  I  wrote  about 
eighty  letters.  The  replies  were  to  be  sent  to  Richmond,  Va.,  and  Baltimore.  The 
postmasters  of  Richmond  and  Baltimore  were  requested  to  re-direct  to  Camden, 
N.  J.  I  received,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  seventeen  letters,  three  containing 
money,  £10,  £$,  £i  (a  sovereign).  They  were  in  the  name  of  Dr.  S.  R.  Hamp 
ton,  and,  of  course,  are  all  run  out. 

My  second  attempt  was  the  Jackson  letters,  which  were  immediately  exposed  in 
England,  though  not  before  I  had  received  several  letters,  two  containing  money, 
£$  and  ^5,  and  were  received  at  Fairfax,  Va.,  Bloom  field,  N.  J.,  &c.,  postmas 
ters  of  which  forwarded  to  Lenwood,  Pa.  The  latter  were  the  same  letters  as  Dr. 
Hampton's,  only  in  name  of  Hawley.  These  were  written  in  July,  and  received 
^25.  These  were  sent  to  Bordentown  and  Elkton,  Md.,  postmasters  to  re-direct 
to  Eddenton,  Pa.,  Kelleysville,  Pa.,  Lazaretto,  Philadelphia.  At  the  same  time 
I  wrote  ten  letters  almost  similar  to  the  Jackson,  from  two  of  which  I  received 
£10,  and  although  so  late,  I  last  week  saw  an  advertisement  in  Baltimore,  and 
requested  the  postmaster  at  Lazaretto  to  send  the  letter  to  Philadelphia.  I  send 
you  orders  on  all  the  postmasters,  so  that  in  future  if  any  more  arrive  they  may 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  11$ 

reach  you — not  me.  Anyhow,  I  promise  you,  without  any  reservation,  never 
again  to  use  any  dishonorable  means  to  procure  money.  I  will  rather  starve  first. 
I  gave  my  word  in  Boston  I  would  never  write  to  any  one  in  the  United  States. 
I  kept  my  promise.  I  now  make  it  to  you,  without  any  reservation. 

Yours,  in  great  affliction,  W.  E. 

The  second  letter  was  the  Jackson  letter,  stated  to  have  been  written  by  a 
daughter  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  and  which  was  sent  all  over  Europe  ;  he  had 
answers  to  this  letter  sent  to  different  sub-post-offices,  so  that  they  should  not 
come  direct  to  Philadelphia.  He  has  admitted  the  whole  thing  to  be  a  forgery,  and 
I  have  recovered  some  fifty  letters  from  him.  I  have  his  post-office  book  with  the 
addresses  of  the  people  to  whom  he  wrote. 

Detective  Franklin  then  took  the  prisoner  down  stairs  to  see  the  Washington 
letter  in  Independence  Hall,  and  to  discover  if  it  was  original.  Upon  his  return 
the  detective  reported  that  it  was  a  forgery,  and  that  it  had  been  written  by  the 
pr'soner  himself. 

Robert  Coulson  Davis,  druggist,  residing  at  Sixteenth  and  Vine  Streets,  sworn. 
— Have  known  the  prisoner  personally  for  a  good  many  years  ;  became  acquainted 
with  him  through  having  a  fancy  for  collecting  autographs  and  things  of  that 
nature  ;  he  was  residing  in  Lombard  Street  when  I  first  knew  him.  What  led  me 
to  know  about  these  forgeries  was  that  they  were  repeatedly  handed  to  me  by  the 
parties  to  whom  they  were  addressed  ;  being  expert  in  distinguishing  such  matters 
was  the  cause  of  their  being  sent  to  me  ;  I  have  also  had  several  conversations 
with  the  prisoner  in  relation  to  the  forgeries  some  years  ago,  but  have  not  seen 
him  before  since  '62  or  '63,  when  he  left  here  and  went  to  Baltimore. 

Mr.  Davis  exhibited  a  book,  which  contained  a  large  number  of  the  forgeries  of 
the  accused.  We  give  a  few  of  those  of  Washington,  which  may  be  interesting  to 
the  general  public : 

HEADQUARTERS  VALLEY  FORGE,  Jan.  29,  1778. — Sir: — Send  to  General 
Mclntosh's  quarters  the  two  men  arrested  last  night  at  the  King  of  Prussia  Inn, 
and  again  at  dark  order  a  picket  of  eight  men  to  patrol  on  the  Norristown  road 
some  distance  beyond  the  tavern,  with  orders  to  bring  in  all  strangers  unable  to 
give  a  good  account  of  themselves  found  on  the  road.  Go.  WASHINGTON. 

To  General  Huntingdon. 

HEADQUARTERS  VALLEY  FORGE,  Feb.  4,  1778. — Permission  is  granted  to  Mr. 
Clymer,  with  his  negro  man  Ben,  to  pass  and  repass  the  pickets  at  the  bridge  and 
on  the  Norristown  road.  Go.  WASHINGTON. 

HEADQUARTERS,  BERGEN  COUNTY,  Sept.  7,  1780. — Permission  is  granted  to 
Mr.  Lewis  Stevens,  with  his  negro  boy  Nat,  to  pass  and  repass  the  picket  at 
Rambo.  Go.  WASHINGTON. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  Dec.  18,  1798. — To  the  Cashier  of  the  Office  of  Discount  and 
Deposit,  Baltimore  : — Will  please  pay  General  Samuel  Smith  or  bearer,  the  sum 
of  eight  hundred  dollars,  and  charge  the  same  to  my  account. 

$800.  Go.  WASHINGTON. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Davis,  the  Mayor  held  the  accused  in 
$500  for  a  further  hearing. 


114  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

APPENDIX   No.   2. 
From  the  Collector,  September  and  October,  1888. 


THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION,  1787. 
BY  PAUL  LEICESTER  FORD. 

IN  1819,  when  John  Quincy  Adams,  by  direction  of  Congress,  edited  and  pub 
lished  ihejotirnal  of  the  Federal  Convention,  he  drew  up  from  the  commissions,  etc., 
filed  by  the  attending  delegates,  a  list  of  the  members,  including  those  who  were 
appointed  but  did  not  attend,  and  those  who  attended  and  did  not  sign  the  com 
pleted  instrument,  making  in  all  a  list  of  sixty-five  names. 

This  list  was  accepted  and  republished  by  Elliot  in  his  Debates  in  the  State 
Convention,  by  Curtis,  in  his  History  of  the  Constitution,  and  more  recently  in  the 
Official  Programme  of  the  Constitutional  Centennial,  and  no  additions  are  promised 
in  the  forthcoming  memorial  volume  of  that  celebration.  Thus,  this  list, prepared 
in  1819,  has  become  a  fixture,  and  both  students  and  autograph  collectors  have 
accepted  it  as  correct. 

There  are,  however,  several  omissions,  and  by  reference  to  original  documents, 
acts,  journals,  etc.,  I  have  increased  the  list  to  seventy-four  names.  To  this  I 
have  added,  in  such  cases  as  I  have  been  able,  the  reasons  of  members  for  declin 
ing  the  appointment,  and  for  the  non-attendance  of  such  as  failed  to  be  present  in 
the  Convention  ;  the  day  of  arrival  of  the  attending  members  ;  their  absences  ;  the 
date  of  leaving  of  those  who  failed  to  sign  the  Constitution,  with  their  reasons  ;  and 
the  part  the  non-attending  or  non-signing  members  took  in  their  own  States  in 
support  of  or  opposition  to  the  ratification. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature.  June  27,  1787. 

Langdon,  John.     Attended  Convention  July  23.     Signed. 

Pickering,  John.  Did  not  attend  Convention.  Voted  to  ratify  the  Constitution 
in  the  New  Hampshire  Convention. 

Oilman,  Nicholas.     Attended  Convention  July  23.     Signed. 

West,  Benjamin.  Did  not  attend  Convention.  Voted  to  ratify  Constitution  in 
New  Hampshire  Convention. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature,  March  10,  1787.  Commissioned  by 
Governor,  April  9,  1787. 

Dana,  Francis.  Did  not  attend  Convention  owing  to  judicial  duties  and  ill- 
health.  Voted  to  ratify  the  Constitution  in  Massachusetts  Convention. 

Gerry,  Elbridge.  Attended  Convention  May  29.  Sat  through  the  session,  but 
refused  to  sign.  Was  strongly  opposed  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  by 
Massachusetts,  but  was  defeated  in  his  election  to  the  State  Convention. 

Gorham,  Nathaniel.     Attended  Conveiition  May  28.     Signed. 


AUTOGRAPH   COLLECTIONS.  115 

King,  Rufus.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Strong,  Caleb.  Attended  Convention  May  28.  Left  Convention  some  time 
after  August  16.  Voted  in  favor  of  ratifying  Constitution  in  Massachusetts  Con 
vention. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature,  May,  1787. 
Johnson,   William  Samuel.     Attended  Convention  June  2.     Signed. 
Sherman,  Roger.     Attended  Convention  May  30.     Signed. 

Ells-worth,  Oliver.  Attended  Convention  May  28.  Left  Convention  some  time 
after  August  23.  Voted  to  ratify  Constitution  in  Connecticut  Convention. 

NEW  YORK. 

Act  providing  for  appointing  delegates  passed  February  28,  1787. 

jilected  by  Legislature,  March  16,  1787. 

Yates,  Robert.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Left  Convention  July  5.  Voted 
against  ratification  of  the  Constitution  in  the  New  York  Convention. 

Hamilton,  Alexander.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Was  in  New  York  July 
3-26.  Again  in  Convention  August  13,  and  was  in  New  York  August  20-26. 
Signed. 

Lansing,  John,  Jr.  Attended  Convention  June  2.  Left  Convention  July  5. 
Voted  against  ratification  of  the  Constitution  in  New  York  Convention. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Acts  of  Legislature,  1786-7. 

Commissioned  by  Governor,  November  23,  1786,  May  18  and  June  5,  1787. 

Brearley,  David.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Houston,  William  Churchill.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Ill  health  com 
pelled  him  to  leave  some  time  after  July  23. 

Paterson,   William.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Neilson,  John.  Did  not  attend  Convention.  Voted  to  ratify  the  Constitution 
in  New  Jersey  Convention. 

Livingston,  William.  Attended  Convention  June  25,  having  been  delayed  by 
his  official  duties  as  Governor  of  New  Jersey.  Was  absent  from  Convention  July 
3-19.  Signed. 

Clark,  Abraham.  Did  not  attend  Convention,  being  present  in  the  Continental 
Congress.  Opposed  to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  New  Jersey,  but 
though  elected  to  the  State  Convention  was  prevented  by  ill  health  from  attending. 

Dayton,  Jonathan.  Attended  Convention  June  23,  not  having,  been  appointed 
until  June  5.  Signed. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature,  December  30,  1786.  Supplement 
ary  act,  appointing  Franklin,  passed  March  28,  1787. 

Mifflin,  Thomas.     Attended  Convention  May  28.     Signed. 
Morris,  Robert.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 
Clymer,  George.     Attended  Convention  May  28.     Signed. 
Ingersoll,  Jared.     Attended  Convention  May  28.     Signed. 
Fitzsimmons,  Thomas.     Attended  Convention  May  28.     Signed. 
Wilson,  James.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Morris,  Gouverneur.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Was  absent  for  some 
time  prior  to  July  2.  Signed. 

Franklin,  Benjamin.     Attended  Convention  May  28.     Signed. 


Il6  AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS. 

DELAWARE. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature,  February  3,  1787.  Commissioned 
by  Governor,  April  2,  1787. 

Read '^George.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 
Bedford,  Gunning.     Attended  Convention  May  28.     Signed. 
Dickinson,  John.     Attended  Convention  May  29.     Signed. 
Bassett,  Richard.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 
Broom,  Jacob.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

MARYLAND. 

Elected  delegates  by  Legislature,  April  23,  1787.  Vacancies  filled  by  Legisla 
ture,  May  5,  8,  and  22.  Commissioned  by  Act  of  Legislature,  May  26,  1787. 

Harrison,  Robert  Hanson.     Declined. 

Carroll,  Charles  of  Carrollton.     Declined.     Favored  adoption. 

Stone,  Thomas.     Declined.     Died  just  after  publication  of  the  Constitution. 

McIIenry,  James.  Attended  Convention  May  28.  Left  June  I,  owing  to  the 
illness  of  his  brother.  Returned  prior  to  August  13.  Signed. 

Lee,  Thomas  Sim.  Declined.  Voted  in  favor  of  ratifying  in  Maryland  Con 
vention. 

Duvall,  Gabriel.     Declined. 

Jenifer,  Daniel,  of  St.  Thomas.     Attended  Convention  June  2.     Signed. 

Carroll,  Daniel.     Attended  Convention  July  9.     Signed. 

Mercer,  James  Francis.  Attended  Convention  August  6.  Left  September  4. 
Opposed  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  Maryland. 

Martin,  Luther.  Attended  the  Convention  June  9.  Left  September  4. 
Opposed  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  in  Maryland. 

VIRGINIA. 

Elected  delegates  by  Legislature,  December  4,  1786.  Vacancies  filled  by  Gov 
ernor. 

Washington,  George.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Henry,  Patrick.  Declined.  Voted  against  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution 
in  the  Virginia  Convention. 

Randolph,  Edmund.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Sat  through  the  session, 
but  refused  to  sign.  Voted  in  favor  of  ratifying  in  the  Virginia  Convention. 

Blair,  John.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Madison,  James.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Mason,  George.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Sat  through  the  session,  but 
refused  to  sign.  Voted  against  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  in  the  Virginia 
Convention. 

Wythe,  George.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Left  June  5,  owing  to  "the 
serious  declension  of  his  lady's  health."  Voted  in  favor  of  ratification  in  Virginia 
Convention. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry.  Declined,  "for  family  reasons,"  and  because  he  did  not 
approve  that  the  same  men  who  had  framed  the  Constitution  should  pass  upon  it 
in  the  Continental  Congress.  Opposed  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 

Nelson,  Thomas.  Declined,  having  retired  into  private  life.  Was  opposed  to 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 

McClurg,  James.  Attended  the  Convention  May  25.  Left  Convention  some 
time  after  July  20.  Favored  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution. 


AUTOGRAPH  COLLECTIONS.  II? 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature,  January  6,  1787.  Vacancies  filled 
by  Governor,  April  3  and  23,  1787. 

Caswell,  Richard.  Declined.  Favored  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  but  was 
defeated  in  his  election  to  the  first  North  Carolina  Convention. 

Martin,  Alexander.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Left  Convention  after 
July  26.  Favored  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  but  was  defeated  in  his  election 
to  the  first  North  Carolina  Convention. 

Davie,  William  Richardson,  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Left  after  July 
26.  Voted  to  ratify  the  Constitution  in  the  North  Carolina  Convention. 

Spaight,  Richard  Dobbs.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Jones,  Willie.  Declined.  Voted  against  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  in 
the  first  North  Carolina  Convention. 

Blount,  William.  Attended  Convention  June  20,  being  "detained  by  indis 
position  in  New  York."  Was  in  Continental  Congress  July  13-August  24.  Dis 
approved  the  Constitution,  but  signed.  Was  defeated  in  his  election  to  first  North 
Carolina  Convention. 

Williamson,  Hugh.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Act  providing  for  delegates  passed  by  Legislature,  March  8,  1787.  Elected  by 
first  ballot  of  Legislature.  Commissioned  by  Governor,  April  10,  1787. 

Rutledge,  John.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Pinckney,  Charles  Cotesworth.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Pinckney,  Charles.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Butler,  Pierce.  Attended  Convention  May  25.  Was  present  in  the  Continen 
tal  Congress  August  2-5.  Signed. 

Laurens,  Henry.  Never  attended,  being  "  kept  away  by  ill  health."  Voted 
in  favor  of  ratifying  the  Constitution  in  South  Carolina  Convention. 

GEORGIA. 

Appointed  delegates  by  Act  of  Legislature,  February  10,  1787.  Commissioned 
by  Governor,  April  17,  1787. 

Few,   William.     Attended  Convention  May  25.     Signed. 

Baldwin,  Abraham.     Attended  Convention  June  n.     Signed. 

Pierce,  William.  Attended  Convention  May  31.  Was  present  in  the  Con 
tinental  Congress  July  13-September  24. 

Walton,  George.     Did  not  attend  Convention. 

Houstoun,  William.  Attended  Convention  June  I.  Left  some  time  after  July 
1 8. 

Pendleton,  Nathaniel.     Did  not  attend  Convention. 


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